


Empty Space

by Wayhaughtterthanthat



Category: Wynonna Earp (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe, F/F, Family Issues, History Teacher, New York City, Wayhaught - Freeform, high school sweethearts, photographer
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-02-15
Updated: 2019-04-28
Packaged: 2019-10-29 05:23:15
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 15
Words: 44,446
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17801819
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Wayhaughtterthanthat/pseuds/Wayhaughtterthanthat
Summary: Nicole Haught is a traveling photographer, living in New York City, 10 years after graduating from Purgatory High School. She has avoided returning home for the past 5 years, until her mother becomes sick and she needs to see her before it's too late. Everything she was trying to avoid comes pouring back as soon as she steps foot back in the town that she tried to leave behind.





	1. Chapter 1

**_Present Day - December 2018_ **

“So, Haught, are you ready for our trip next week?” Robin asked with a smile, as he peered his head over the top of the cubicle wall.

“Yes! Africa...pretty exciting stuff!” Nicole smiled slightly, turning in her chair at her desk to see her coworker looking at her from over the wall.

“You okay? You seem distracted lately,” Robin asked as he entered the cubicle and pulled a chair up, sitting backwards in it next to Nicole’s desk.

“Yeah, I’m fine, feeling a little under the weather,” Nicole explained, turning back to look through some papers on her desk.

“Well, you better hit up the Vitamin C, my friend, because you’re not missing this trip! And rumor has it, Pressman is gunning for your job, so you better be there!” Robin warned.

“She’s not gunning for my job, Robin. She just wants to work her way up. But who can blame her?” Nicole informed him, turning to face him.

“Well, if you ask me, no one works harder than you do. So you really have nothing to worry about,” he told her.

“I’m not worried,” Nicole laughed. “Hey, what are you doing later? I’ve got tickets to the Rangers game I don’t want to waste.”

“You asking me out on a date, Haught?” Robin joked.

“You’re not really my type,” she winked.

“Right back at you!” Robin retorted.

“Speaking of, how was your date with that bartender?” Nicole asked, putting her feet up on the trash can that was next to her desk and leaning back in her chair.

“Meh, all he talked about was working out and protein shakes. I swear, for a city as large as New York, there is no such thing as a decent, gay man around here. Besides me of course,” he laughed.

“Maybe it’s hard for them to get near you with the size of that ego,” Nicole laughed.

“Maybe I just know a good thing when i see it ...in a mirror,” he laughed.

Nicole shook her head at Robin.

“Well, what about you? I don’t see you lining up many dates lately. Or ever.”

“Too busy,” Nicole said plainly, putting her feet back on the floor and turning back to her desk. “Can’t be a hard working photographer and have distractions.”

“Sure,” Robin said, sarcastically. “It has nothing to do with a certain someone? Who’s name rhymes with...pay?”

“What? Hell no, she’s just... there when I need it, you know?” Nicole laughed as she turned back to her friend.

“Mhm,” he gave her an unbelieving look.

“Trust me, dude, she’s not my type. Well, I mean, she’s my type, just look at her,” she laughed. “But not my relationship type,” Nicole explained. “She’s convenient and really just not bad to look at,” she winked.

“Who’s that?” A voice came from around the corner of the cubicle.

“Shae, hey, what’s up?” Robin asked, trying to cover up the fact that they were talking about her.

“Are you two working hard or hardly working?” Shae joked.

“We’re discussing our Africa trip next week and Haught here was trying to ask me on a date because she just doesn’t get that I’m not into girls like she is,” Robin laughed.

“Africa. That is exciting,” Shae said.

“You jealous?” Nicole teased.

“Not really, I have some other assignments I’ll be working on soon,” Shae taunted. “So, Nicky, are you going to miss me while you’re gone?”

“Ugh. Don’t call me that,” Nicole huffed. “And you wish,” she winked.

“Well, maybe later I can show you how much I’ll miss you,” Shae whispered in Nicole’s ear.

“Yeah, I’m out!” Robin said, throwing his hands up. “I’ll catch you later at the game, Haught.”

“Do you have to go?” Nicole gave him a begging look.

Robin nodded and winked at his friend.

“Fine! See you later,” Nicole huffed as Robin left the room.

“So how about you and I hang out a little before you leave?” Shae asked once Robin was as out of sight.

“We’ll see,” Nicole said as she turned back to her desk, looking through a stack of photos.

“Keep playing hard to get, Nicole. One day you’ll see what’s right in front of you.” Shae told her.

“Shae, it’s not you, it’s me,” Nicole started, turning back to look up at her coworker.

“Oh please, you don’t need to use lines on me,” Shae informed her.

“I’ve just been thinking a lot lately and I don’t want to lead you on. I don’t really see anything serious happening between us.”

“You need to loosen up a little, Nicole,” Shae states, starting to rub her shoulders.

Nicole slightly melted under Shae’s touch.

“Maybe let someone inside that giant wall of yours someday,” Shae suggested.

“Someday,” Nicole said.

“Well if you just want to have some fun until then, you know where to find me,” Shae winked.

“Deal,” Nicole smiled. “Hey, is that meeting still on for 12:30?”

Shae nodded. “It’s only 12:08 though, you have a little bit.”

“Thanks!” Nicole thanked Shae as she turned to leave. “12:08,” she said out loud to herself.

________________

“Okay, it’s 12:08, bells rings in 2 minutes!” Waverly called out to the class of high school students in front of her.

When the bell rang she smiled at the students as they filed out of the room.

“See you all on Monday!” She said to them as they left the room.

There was a knock at the door and Jeremy Chetri appeared. “Knock, knock!” He said, cheerfully.

“Hey, Jer,” Waverly said quietly, sitting back down at her desk.

“You okay?” He asked as he entered the room.

“Yeah, just having an off day. I have a lot on my mind,” she told him.

“You free tonight?” He asked.

“I’m not sure,” Waverly sighed. “Wynonna mentioned having something to talk to me about and I’m not sure what that means. You know how she can be, always cryptic,” she laughed. “And I have a shift at the bar.”

“Ooh, is the cute new bartender working?” Jeremy winked, pulling a chair up next to her desk to sit.

“Her name is Samantha, and yes,” Waverly told him.

“How’s that going?” Jeremy asked.

“How’s what going?” Waverly asked.

“Don’t play dumb with me, Waves! Didn't you guys go on a date last night?” Jeremy asked.

“We went to the movies,” Waverly said. “It was nice. A little weird.”

“Weird?” Jeremy asked. “Was she weird?”

“No, she was really sweet, actually. It’s just weird to date, you know?”

“I guess.”

“I’m 27 years old, Jeremy, it’s just weird to casually date,” she laughed.

“I get it,” Jeremy laughed. “I’m forever destined to be single.” He leaned his head down onto Waverly’s desk.

Waverly laughed.

“Well, I have to get some papers graded, but I think I’ll stop by the bar tonight so I’ll see you later!” Jeremy said as he stood up quickly from his chair.

“See you, Jer,” Waverly smiled.

Waverly sighed and picked up her phone, scrolling through to find her sister’s name. She opened up a blank text message.

_Waverly (12:15pm): So what’s so important that you need to talk about? I’m on my planning period_

_Wynonna (12:17pm): Well, I wanted to talk in person but I think we should sell the homestead._

_Waverly (12:17pm): What? Wynonna! It’s our home!_

 Waverly let out a sigh, rubbing her hand with her face.

  _Wynonna (12:19pm): but it needs so much work, Waves! We could make some money off of it and build something new_

_Waverly (12:19pm): We have money, we can fix it up._

_Wynonna (12:20pm): We can use the money Curtis left us to rebuild somewhere else_

_Waverly (12:21pm): Wynonna. No._

_Wynonna (12:21pm): we can discuss it later then_

_Waverly (12:22pm): okay, but I’m not selling_

Waverly signed huffed and set her phone down. She realized there was a lot of work to be done at her childhood home, but it was her home. Wynonna had been dropping hints about the possibility of selling the home and land since their uncle had passed away and left money to them. Waverly had been ignoring her hints because she wanted nothing to do with getting rid of the land that held so many memories of her life over the last 27 years. Good and bad, they were her memories and she had no intentions of wanting them to disappear to anyone else.

________________

Nicole arrived at the hockey arena thirty minutes before the game. She looked down at her phone and realized Robin must have been there long before her by the amount of missed calls and texts she had.

Nicole shook her head and laughed slightly, dialing Robin’s phone number and placing the phone against her ear.

“Where are you?!” Robin yelled.

“Chill out,” Nicole laughed. “I’m actually pretty early.”

“Whatever,” Robin huffed. “Where are you?” he asked, while pacing back and forth outside.

Nicole spotted her friend looking around in the crowd of people outside the arena.

“Hey!” she called out, hanging up her phone.

“Took you long enough,” Robin laughed.

“It’s not like we’re going to lose our seats!” Nicole told him. “Let’s go!” she said, leading him toward the entrance.

Once inside, Nicole and Robin bought a couple of beers and took their seats in the stands.

“So, did you and Shae get it on in the office when I left?” Robin joked, taking a sip of heis beer.

“Yeah, no,” she rolled her eyes.

“What’s up with that anyway?” Robin asked.

“I told you, she’s convenient,” Nicole took a drink from her beer.

“But real talk for a second,” Robin started.

Nicole sighed.

“You two have been hooking up for a while, right?” Robin asked.

“Yes,” Nicole nodded.

“So are you basically dating?” Robin asked.

“No!” Nicole laughed. “Listen, we just hook up, nothing more. We don’t even really talk,” she told him.

“Well isn’t that going to get in the way of finding someone you actually want to be with?” Robin asked.

“That’s the thing,” Nicole explained. “I’m much better on my own.”

“Have you ever been in love?” he asked.

 

**_September 2008_ **

_Nicole sighed as she entered the cafeteria of her new school. She glanced around the room to see students all interacting with each other. There appeared to be several clicks of people who had already known each other for years. She continued to scan the tables to find somewhere to sit. She spotted an empty table and quickly made her way to it. She set her lunch down in front of her and took a book out to read._

_“I see you found the new kid table,” a voice came from in front of her._

_Nicole looked up to see a girl she had met earlier in her english class, setting her tray down at table with her._

_“Oh, is that why the table is empty?” Nicole laughed._

_“We don’t get a lot of new kids,” the girl winked._

_“So I take it you’re not new,” Nicole laughed._

_“Yeah, no,” she laughed._

_“And you still want to be seen at the new kid table?”_

_“Well, I wasn’t sure if you wanted company.”_

_“You’re so bubbly,” Nicole laughed._

_“Is that a bad thing?_

_Nicole shook her head. “It’s kind of nice. People don’t seem that friendly here,” Nicole told her._

_“They’re just not used to change,” she winked._

_Nicole smiled back at the girl in front of her. She was one of the most beautiful people she had ever laid eyes on. She found herself mesmerized by the way her eyes squinted when she smiled and the way her hair flowed perfectly down her back. She started to feel her heart beat faster._

**_Present Day_ **

“I don’t do love,” she told Robin. “No time,” she said plainly.

“Fine, then,” Robin said. “Don’t tell me.”

________________

Waverly entered Shorty’s that night to start her bartending shift. She yawned as she walked behind the bar.

“You tired already, Earp?” the other bartender laughed.

“I’m fine!” Waverly protested. “Didn’t sleep well last night and it’s been a long day.”

“Someone keep you out too late?” Samantha winked.

“Late night movie,” Waverly laughed.

“Oh, come on, Earp, I would hardly consider a movie that starts at 8:15pm to be a late night movie!” she laughed.

“Well, it is when you’re a teacher and it’s a school night!” Waverly protested.

“Well, how about I let you get out a little early tonight?” Samantha asked, putting her hand on Waverly’s arm.

“Oh, you don’t have to do that, Sam,” Waverly insisted.

“I insist! You deserve some rest, Waverly,” she smiled.

“Remind me again to thank Gus for hiring you,” Waverly winked.

Samantha laughed and nodded. “Hey, one more thing. I was wondering if you were free tomorrow and if you’d want to go get dinner or something?”

“Oh, I, uh-” Waverly started.

“Only if you want! No pressure!” Samantha smiled.

“Oh, no, it’s fine, sorry, I’m really tired,” Waverly laughed. “I’d love to, Sam,” she smiled.

________________

After the game, Nicole entered her apartment, shutting the door behind her and dropping her keys down on the counter. She kicked her shoes off near the shoe rack that was in the entryway and made her way into her apartment. A large, orange cat rubbed up against her legs and she reached down to pet her.

“Hey, CJ,” Nicole said softly. “Are you hungry?” She said as she made her way into the kitchen.

Nicole poured cat food into a bowl and placed in on the floor for her cat. She then took out a glass and poured some whiskey in it, before sitting down on the couch and turning the tv on. After flipping through the channels and not landing on anything in particular, she picked up her phone. Taking another swig of whiskey, she typed a text message.

_Nicole (11:36pm): you up?_

_Shae (11:38pm): yeah, what’s up?_

_Nicole (11:41pm): you in the mood for me to come over?_

_Shae (11:42pm): of course_

_Nicole (11:43pm): leaving in 5_

Nicole stood up from the couch and noticed the cat staring up at her, she finished the rest of her whiskey and set the glass down on the counter.

“Oh, don’t give me that look, Calamity Jane,” Nicole huffed as she slid her shoes back on her feet. She grabbed her coat and keys before heading out the door.

Walking down the street toward Shae’s apartment, Nicole took a deep breath in. The air was crisp but not too cold yet, it was a fairly mild night in New York for December. Nicole found herself zoning out on the way to her destination. It was a 5 block walk that she had taken several time over the past few years. She had never had Shae over to her apartment, in fear that she would overstay her welcome or invade Nicole’s privacy. She only allowed people in New York to know as much about her as she thought fit, and that was not much.

Nicole walked up the steps of the brownstone apartment building and rang the bell to be let in. She quickly pulled a flask out of her coat pocket and took a swig before Shae buzzed her into the building. Entering Shae’s apartment, she hung her coat up, as she had done several times before and slid her shoes off.

“Do you want a drink?” Shae asked.

“I’m good,” Nicole said, pulling her flask out again and waving it in the air.

Nicole leaned in to kiss Shae.

“You’re not wasting any time tonight,” Shae said, briefly pulling away from the kiss.

Nicole shook her head as their lips reconnected. Continuing to make out, Shae lead the pair to the bedroom, falling gently on top of Nicole on the bed.

________________

“Hey, it’s pretty slow, if you want to take off, Earp,” Samantha said, wiping the counter next to Waverly.  

“You sure you can close everything down?” Waverly asked.

“Yeah, Gus is around here somewhere too. We can take care of it,” she smiled.

“Thanks again, Sam,” Waverly smiled. “See you tomorrow?”

“It’s a date!” she smiled.

Waverly smiled again and turned to leave the bar. As she came around the other side of the bar, Waverly saw Wynonna at a table with Rosita and Jeremy.

“Waves!” Wynonna called out.

“Are you behaving yourself, Wynonna?” Waverly laughed, making her way over to the group.

“She’s fine!” Rosita assured her. “Are you off already? You should join us!”

“I am way too tired, Rosie,” Waverly protested.

“Oh come on! It’s not even midnight!” Wynonna protested.

“I don’t know, Sam let me off early so I could sleep. I’d feel bad if I stayed,” Waverly told them.

“Oh come on! That girl likes you, she won’t be mad!” Rosita told her.

“Okay,” Waverly sighed, “I’ll be right back,” she said as she walked back up to the bar.

“Waverly, you’re never going to get sleep if you don’t actually go to bed,” Samantha winked.

“My sister and friends want me to stay,” Waverly told her, leaning on the bar.

“Then what are you doing up here? You want a drink?” she asked.

“I wanted to make sure it was okay that I’m still here.”

“Waverly, it’s your family’s bar-” Samantha laughed.

“Yeah, but you’re working for me. I didn’t want to look like a jerk,” Waverly told her.

Samantha smiled and placed her hands on top of Waverly’s on the bar. “You worry too much,” she winked. “What do you want to drink?”

“You’re really sweet,” Waverly smiled.

“Well, you’re pretty cute,” Samantha smiled.  
________________

Nicole rolled over on the bed, sat up and placed her feet on the floor. She started to slide her pants back on as she heard Shae start to move behind her.

“Why don’t you just stay?” Shae asked in a tired voice.

“We’ve talked about this, Shae,” Nicole warned.

“I’m not saying you need to commit to me, Nicole, I’m just saying, it’s late.”

“I’ll be fine,” Nicole assured her as she stood up and slide her shirt over her head.

“Are you ever going to let anyone actually get to know you, Nicole Haught?” Shae asked, sitting up and pulling the blanket further up over her chest.

“How do you know I haven’t?” Nicole asked.

“I’ve known you for almost 6 years and we’ve been doing this for, what? At least 5? The most I know about you is that you’re from some small town in the northwest and you’re a damn good photographer. I’ve never heard you say a word about your family or any other interests, other than the occasional hockey games you go to with Robin.”

“That’s pretty much it,” Nicole laughed. “Look Shae, you’re a nice person, and this,” she gestured between the two of them. “This is great, I’m just not in a place for anything more with anyone right now.”

“That’s not what I’m asking, Nicole, I’m just saying, sometimes it’s okay to let people in. Even if it’s not me, it’s still okay,” she said softly.

“What do you want me to say? My family is complicated, I’m sure everyone’s is. I haven’t been home in 5 years. Christmas is coming up and I’m sure I’ll be getting the pity calls from my mom soon begging me to come home, causing me to go find more trips to go on to take the place of me actually going home for the holidays. I don’t do this, Shae, I don’t talk about my life because I don’t face it. If I don’t talk about it, it’s not there and it’s better that way. It’s just how it is.”

Shae looked back at Nicole sympathetically.

“Thank you for tonight, Shae,” Nicole smiled softly at her as she left her room, shutting the door behind her.


	2. Chapter 2

Nicole woke the next morning and rolled out of bed in search for pain medicine to reduce the ache in her head. She stood in front of the bathroom sink and looked at herself in the mirror. She shook her head at the reflection staring back at her and popped a couple pills into her mouth, chasing it quickly with water. She splashed water on her face to wake herself up and made her way into her kitchen to find something to eat.

She heated up some leftovers in the microwave and sat on the couch to eat them. Her phone lit up on the coffee table and she glanced down to see a missed call and voicemail from a number she did not recognize. Nicole pushed play on the voicemail and placed it on speaker mode, setting the phone back down on the coffee table. She took a bite of food.

“Nicky,” a raspy, male voice came across the phone.

Nicole’s stomach dropped and when she realized the voice was her father, who she had not spoken to or heard from since her senior year of high school. Now, it was ten years later and the voice still haunted her, making her cringe as she listened carefully to the voicemail.

“Listen..your mother...” the voice continued. “She uh, had a heart attack I guess and apparently she still had me listed as emergency contact. Well, the doctors say it’s not good and, Nicky, you should probably try to get home,” her father's voice trailed off and the voicemail stopped.

Nicole sat quietly, staring at her phone as the room fell silent.

____________

Waverly woke the next morning feeling more refreshed than the day before. She rolled over, glancing at her phone read a few missed messages that she had on her phone.

_Samantha (7:45am): So I was thinking we could do dinner tonight_

_Samantha (7:46am): It would give us a chance to talk more_

_Samantha (7:49am): Only if you want…_

Waverly laughed and shook her head.

_Waverly (8:31am): you’re up early. And yes, that sounds perfect._

Waverly smiled down at her phone. She thought about how long it had been since she felt anything more than a friendship for another human being. She felt that she had fell into the comfortable feeling of only caring for herself, but her friends began to describe it more as ‘being afraid to let someone new in.’

 

**December 31st, 2008**

_“Damn, babygirl, who you all dressed up for?” Wynonna asked as she entered the bathroom, seeing Waverly looking at herself in the mirror._

_“It’s New Year’s Eve, I figured I’d wear something nice,” Waverly smiled._

_“So which one of those future frat boys out there are you lip locking with at midnight?” Wynonna asked._

_Waverly laughed. “Definitely none.”_

_“Oh come on, Waves. New Years tradition!” her older sister informed her._

_“Maybe if someone I’m interested in shows up,” she laughed._

_“So you ARE interested in someone?” Wynonna asked._

_“Goodbye, Wynonna!” Waverly said, pushing her out of the bathroom._

_“Why don’t you get out there and entertain your guests, they’re starting to show up,” Wynonna nudged her._

_Waverly took a deep breath and looked at herself once more in the mirror before descending down the stairs._

 

**_Present Day_ **

Waverly shook her head at the memory and climbed out of bed, taking her phone off of the charger and bringing it with her to be sure she wouldn’t miss anymore messages. She made her way down the stairs to see a note on the counter from her sister.

 

_Out to breakfast, be back later._

_-Wynonna_

 

“Thanks for the invite,” Waverly huffed to herself as she put the note down and made her way through the kitchen.

Waverly grabbed a box of cereal from the cupboard and poured herself a cup of coffee.

“At least she made coffee,” she said and she moved to sit on the couch with her breakfast.

Waverly turned the TV on and looked down at her phone as it lit up with another text message from Samantha.

 

_Samantha (9:04 am): I’ll pick you up at 5?_

_Waverly (9:05 am): I’ll be ready :)_

____________

  
“Sarah, what the hell is going on?” Nicole said frantically on the phone with her cousin, as she paced back and forth in her living room. “Please tell me straight up how bad it is.”

“Nicole,” Sarah sighed. “It wasn’t good, she’s doing okay right now.”

“Okay right now? What does that mean?!” she yelled.

“She’s stable. She’s talking,” Sarah told her. “They’re bringing her into surgery tomorrow to do some repairs that they say are necessary. They’ll be able to give more information then.”

“So I should come?” Nicole said softly, sitting down on her couch.

“I would,” Sarah said, honestly. “Maybe you can get your Africa flight switched to leave from here?” she suggested.

“Africa is the last thing on my mind right now, Sarah,” Nicole said, rubbing her face with her hand.

“I know, Nic, I’m just trying to help,” her cousin sighed.

“I know. Thanks. I just have a few things to get in order here and I’ll be out on the earliest flight possible. I’ll be there tonight,” Nicole assured her.

“Let me know and I’ll be on the other side.”

“Thanks, Sarah. Hey, do me a favor and don’t tell anyone I’m on my way?” Nicole asked.

“Yeah sure, I got you,” Sarah told her. “Hey Nicky, do you think you’ll see her while you’re here?”

“It’s a small town, I guess there’s always a possibility,” Nicole sighed.

“Just get here safely,” Sarah told her. “I’ll see you tonight.”

____________

“I can’t believe you really want to sell the homestead,” Waverly said to Wynonna as they entered the house later than day, carrying paper grocery bags in each hand.

“Now hear me out, Waves,” Wynonna started, setting the bags on the counter. “We could still build a place. The cost of repairs aren’t even worth the property at this point.”

“But it’s home, Wynonna. I’ve been working at the bar and with the inheritance money...”

“Waverly, like I said before, we could use that money to build!” Wynonna told her.

“Why don’t we fix it, rebuild on our land, but please Wynonna, it’s home,” Waverly begged.

Wynonna sighed, defeated. “Fine, babygirl, you win.”

“Thank you!” Waverly squealed as she hugged Wynonna, kissing her cheek.

Wynonna cringed, “Okay, get off of me now.”

“Fine, but only because I have to go get ready for tonight,” Waverly smiled.

“Isn’t that not for a few hours?” Wynonna asked.

“And your point?” Waverly asked.

Wynonna rolled her eyes at her sister. “You’re really liking this new bartender, aren’t you?” she winked.

“Is that bad?” Waverly asked.

“No, it’s good, Waves! It’s abo-”

“Don’t tell me it’s about time, Wynonna. I don’t have to be with someone to be happy!” Waverly told her.

“I know, babygirl, it’s just nice to see you trusting someone again,” Wynonna smiled.

____________

Nicole went into work that day and let them know that she would be out of town for a while to see her mother. They were understanding and wanted her to keep them updated about Africa, reminding her that her flights would be able to be changed if she needed. Nicole thanked her bosses for being understanding and made her way to her desk to finish up a few things before she left for the airport.

Nicole took her phone out of her pocket and started to flip through Instagram. She clicked on a familiar name and started to scroll through images of the woman whose account it was. She continued to scroll, looking at faces of people she knew from home. Well, people she used to know.

“Who’s that?” a voice came from behind her, over the top of the cubicle wall.

Nicole jumped and dropped her phone on the ground. “Robin, you really need to stop popping in on me like that!” she huffed.

Robin came around the corner and picked up Nicole’s phone off the floor, handing it back to her.

“Sorry,” he said softly. “But really, who’s that chick? She’s pretty,” he said, looking down at the photo on Nicole’s phone.

“No one,” Nicole said as she took the phone from him and locked the screen. “Here’s my spare key,” she said as she handed it to her friend. “Thanks again for watching Calamity Jane for me.”

“No problem!” Robin assured her. “Are you excited to be going home? I mean, not under the circumstances, I’m sure, but…”

Nicole laughed. “Hardly,” she told him.

____________

“So how long have you lived in Purgatory?” Samantha asked Waverly as she took a sip of water from the glass in front of her.

“Forever,” Waverly laughed. “Well, I got out for college, but I didn’t go far.”

“And you studied History in college?” Samantha asked.

“Yeah, I teach history at Purgatory High School. It’s nice, a little weird to be where I went to school. But I’ve gotten over that a little,” she laughed. “What about you?”

“No college for me,” Samantha laughed. “I did a lot of traveling after high school. Dabbling in a few things.”

“And you ended up settling down here?” Waverly laughed.

“It’s quiet,” Samantha smiled.

“Do you plan on staying for a while?” Waverly asked.

“I guess I just kind of go where life takes me,” Samantha explained. “I never really set myself a timeline, you know?”

“I admire that,” Waverly told her. “I wish I had more of that freestyle quality.”

“Don’t travel much?” Samantha asked.

“I always mean to, you know? But then things just take over and I never feel like I have the time,” Waverly explained. “I used to want to teach in third world countries. Help people that really need it, you know?”

“Waverly, that sounds amazing,” Samantha smiled.

“Yeah, but it’s more of a pipe dream,” Waverly sighed.

“Why’s that?” Samantha asked.

“I don’t know. I just always feel like there’s a need for me to be here, you know?”

“Do you see yourself in Purgatory forever?”

“I think I’m having trouble with the idea of ever letting it go,” Waverly admitted. “It’s got a lot of history that I’m not ready to part with yet,” she sighed. “But, I would like to do more traveling.”

“Well, maybe we can make that happen sometime,” Samantha winked.

“I’d like that,” Waverly smiled.

____________

  
Nicole latched her seatbelt on the plane and let out a small sigh. She leaned back on her neck pillow and peered out the window, staring out onto the tarmac. Her eyes made contact with two workers in orange vests, tossing people’s suitcases into the bottom of a nearby plane. She couldn’t help but think about how careless they were being with these people’s belongings.

As she continued to watch them work, she slid earbuds into her ears and turned back to her phone, shutting the shade on the window next to her.

_Nicole (9:30pm): in the plane now, see you on the other side!_

Sarah returned the text with a thumbs up and Nicole started her music, closing her eyes as the song began.  


**_December 2013_ **

_“You never have time for me anymore!”_

_“You know I’m doing my best,” Nicole said, exhausted. “This internship could really land me a good job out here and I’m sort of banking on it!”_

_“So you’re staying in New York?”_

_“We talked about this! There’s so many more opportunities out here for me!” Nicole started to become frustrated._

_“And what about me?”_

_“I thought you wanted to come,” Nicole said, softly._

_“I want to be with you, Nicole! I want to be with you.”_

_“Babe, I know it’s hard, it’s not easy for me either,” Nicole began._

_“Schmoozing in New York City?”_

_“It’s not like that,” Nicole defended. “I’m an intern, I have to do whatever they want, I need to make a good impression.”_

_“And then what? You travel all over the world without me?”_

_“Who said it’s without you?” Nicole asked. “This could be our life, we could travel everywhere you’ve ever wanted.”_

_“What about my life? My career, Nicole? My career isn’t to follow my girlfriend all over the world. Look, I’m not saying I’m not proud of you, because I am very proud, I just don’t know how long I can do this anymore.”_

 

_**Present Day** _

Nicole’s eyes shot open and she slowly slid the window shade up, glancing out at the darkness of the night sky.

“This is your captain speaking,” the pilot’s voice came over the loudspeaker. “It looks like we’ll be a little early. Wheels should be on the ground at about 12:08am local time.”

Nicole sighed softly and closed her eyes again, hoping to avoid more dreams from the past. She started to think about her mother, beginning to feel guilty about avoiding coming home lately. Nicole rubbed her eyes and took a deep breath in attempts to relax.

After landing and collecting her belongings, Nicole exited the plane. Outside the airport, she found her cousin’s car and climbed in.

“Hey there, beautiful,” Sarah smiled at her cousin.

“Hey, Sarah,” Nicole smiled softly.

“How was your flight?”

“I slept most of it. Weird dreams. I think it’s the town,” Nicole laughed.

“Well, I can tell you, it hasn’t changed much,” Sarah laughed.

Nicole laughed as she looked out the window. A few minutes later, they drove by a sign that said, “Welcome To Purgatory.” Nicole let out a sigh at the thought of being back in the town that she had spent so long trying to avoid coming back to.

“Do you want to stop for a drink at Shorty's?” Nicole asked as they entered town.

“You’re not tired?” Sarah asked.

“Helps me sleep,” Nicole stated.

Sarah gave Nicole a look.

“Don’t look at me like that, Sarah, it’s been a long day. I’m fine,” Nicole stated.

“Okay, fine, one drink,” Sarah said as she pulled into the parking lot.  



	3. Chapter 3

“Come on, Waves, one more drink!” Wynonna slurred as she stumbled over to the bar.

“Wynonna, I told you already, you need to sit down or go home. I get off in an hour, I’ll take you home then,” Waverly assured her.

“Okay fine, but in the meantime, pour me one more, please!” Wynonna begged.

“If you promise to go sit down and leave me alone, I’ll give you _one_ _more_ drink,” Waverly sighed.

“Deal!” Wynonna agreed.

Waverly poured her sister a drink and pointed to the tables on the other side of the bar. Wynonna headed for the table and Waverly stepped into the back room to restock. She ran a finger across the bottles in the back room, looking for the ones that she needed. She heard the door of the stock room swing open behind her and she turned around to see Samantha entering the room.

“Oh! I didn’t know you were back here!” Samantha smiled at her. “Gus is covering bar for a minute while I grab more paper stock.”

“Oh yeah, we’re running low on some bottles so I figured I’d stock up while I had a second,” Waverly told her. “Plus my sister is kind of getting on my nerves,” she laughed.

“Well, I’m pretty sure she’s finally sitting down,” Samantha assured her.

“I threatened her,” Waverly laughed.

“Waverly Earp, I didn’t pin you as the threatening type!” Samantha laughed.

“I guess there’s a lot of things you don’t know about me yet,” Waverly winked.

“Oh yeah?” Samantha asked as she made her way over to Waverly.

Waverly turned and draped her arms over Samantha’s shoulders, placing her hands on the back of her head. Samantha smiled back at Waverly as she leaned in to kiss the other girl.

“I guess you’re full of surprises,” Samantha winked.

Waverly smiled and leaned back in for another kiss, lightly pushing her body up against the other woman’s. Samantha turned to lean her back up against the shelves in the back room. Waverly ran her fingers through Samantha’s blonde hair on the back of her head as she continue to kiss her.

“Sorry,” Waverly laughed a little as she pulled away from the kiss. “I may have been wanting to do that all night,” she winked.

Samantha smiled at her and made her way over to the boxes that contained the bar napkins. “I didn’t mind,” she winked as she grabbed a stack of napkins and made her way back to the bar.

On the other side of the bar, Wynonna sat down at the table with Rosita and Jeremy. “Sup, losers?” She slurred, nodding her head up.

“Wynonna, why do you have another drink?” Jeremy asked.

“Waves gave it to me! I swear!” she told him.

Just then the door swung open and in walked Nicole and Sarah.

“Well would you look what the cat dragged in!” Wynonna called out, loudly.

Waverly could hear Wynonna speaking loudly from where she was in the back room and rolled her eyes.

“If it isn’t Nicole Haught!” Wynonna yelled with a huge grin on her face.

Waverly’s stomach sank. Nicole Haught? Did she hear her correctly? Wynonna’s drunk, maybe she’s just talking and doesn’t know what she’s saying.

“Wynonna Earp,” Nicole smiled back at her.

“Shit, Haught! Where the hell have you been?” Wynonna called out.

Waverly ducked down in the back room and peered out the door. Nicole was standing next to the table where Wynonna was sitting with Rosita and Jeremy. She could see them all talking, but couldn’t tell what they were saying.

“I’ve been around,” Nicole told her. “A lot of traveling.”

“What brings you back here?” Rosita asked, skeptically.

“My mom is sick,” Nicole said softly.

“I see at least that gets you back here,” Rosita retorted.

“I see you haven’t changed,” Nicole joked, smirking at the brunette.

“You here to see Waverly?” Jeremy asked. “I can go get her!” Jeremy started to stand up and Rosita elbowed him in the side.

“Ow!” Jeremy winced at the pain, sitting back down at the table.

“I’m here for a drink, she’s here? I didn’t-” Nicole began.

“She works here, Haught,” Rosita explained.

“Wait, what?” Nicole asked as she turned to see her cousin at the bar, ordering a drink.

Nicole walked up to Sarah and pulled on her arm. “Yeah, we gotta go,” she said to her cousin.

“But I just ordered us drinks!” Sarah protested.

Waverly continued to watch from the backroom. “What is she doing here?” she said out loud to herself. She continued to stare out the window of the door, realizing she had been back there for a while.

“Come on, Waverly,” she sighed to herself. “This is your job, you can’t let her bother you. It’s been 5 years since you’ve seen her, you’ve moved on.”  


**_September 2008._ **

_“You going to come out here, or continue to stare at me through the door, Earp?” Nicole smiled and turned slightly to see Waverly looking back at her._

_“I didn’t want to bother you,” Waverly said, shyly as she joined Nicole outside._

_“You’re not a bother,” Nicole smiled. “I don’t mind.”_

_“So what are you doing out here? Too much spin the bottle?” Waverly laughed._

_“Nah, just needed some fresh air. Thanks for inviting me tonight, it’s been fun,” Nicole smiled._

_“Well, you did get to kiss me, so I hope you’re having fun,” Waverly teased._

_“Do you like a bunch of jocks hollering at you while you kiss someone?” Nicole laughed. “Sorry about that, by the way. You didn’t really have to kiss me.”_

_“Oh, it’s okay, it’s just spin the bottle,” Waverly assured her. “It really wasn’t a big deal. Those guys are just assholes. Champ likes me and he thinks acting like that is going to impress me,” she rolled her eyes._

_“Do you like him?” Nicole asked._

_“I mean, I guess he’s cute, but he’s kind of a jerk,” Waverly stated. “What about you? You in to any of those guys in there?”_

_“Definitely not,” Nicole laughed. “I’m not sure if I’m into guys at all,” she stated, matter of factly, as she took a sip from the cup in her hand._

_“Wait, what?” Waverly asked._

_“Oh, sorry, I didn’t mean to freak you out-” Nicole began._

_“Oh no, I’m not freaked out! That’s pretty cool, I mean, not cool, but you know what I mean. I’m cool with it,” Waverly stuttered._

_“Waverly,” Nicole laughed as she placed a hand on Waverly’s shoulder. “It’s fine.”_

_“So, do you have a girl here that you like then?” Waverly asked._

_“Not really,” Nicole explained. “I don’t know any other lesbians here for starters.”_

_“Yeah, I don’t think purgatory is really swimming with gay people,” Waverly laughed._

_“Oh, there’s no Purgatory Pridefest?” Nicole joked._

_Waverly laughed. “So have you ever had a girlfriend?”_

_“What’s with all the questions?” Nicole asked._

_“Oh sorry, I -” Waverly began._

_“Hey, relax, Earp, I’m just kidding,” Nicole laughed. “Are you always this uptight?”_

_“Not always,” Waverly smiled at the redhead as she took the cup out of her hand and took a swig of her drink._

_Nicole’s eyes widened as she looked down at the smaller girl._

_“Hey, the guys want to play 7 minutes in heaven now, you guys in?” Rosita’s voice came from behind them._

_Nicole and Waverly both jumped and turned around to see the other girl looking back at them._

_“There is no way that I’m spending any minutes in any location with any of those morons,” Nicole laughed._

_Rosita rolled her eyes at Nicole. “Okay, suit yourself. Waves? What about you?”_

_“Nah, I’m good out here,” she smiled at Nicole._

_“Okay?” Rosita looked at them, confused, then descended back inside._

_“Not into 7 minutes in heaven?” Waverly laughed._

_“Not with those buffoons,” she laughed._

_“What if someone like me was in there with you?” Waverly asked._

_Nicole swallowed. “Someone like you?”_

_“Or me?”_ _she smiled, taking another sip of Nicole’s drink._  


**Present Day**

“I can’t be here-” Nicole tried to tell her cousin, as she saw Waverly emerge from the back room near the other side of the bar.

Nicole turned her back to the bar, attempting to hide her face from the brunette on the other end of the bar.

Sarah’s eyes widened. “Shit, Nicole, I didn’t realize, Nicky. We can go.”

Nicole sighed. “It’s fine, we can have a drink,” she said as she turned to grab her drink that the blonde bartender gave her and took a sip.

She made small talk with her cousin, apologizing for not seeing her or talking to her as often as she used to.

“Nicky, it’s fine, I know you’re busy. You’re a big world traveler now! How exciting is that?”

“It’s pretty exciting,” Nicole smiled.

Waverly continued to take drink orders as they came in, occasionally looking down at the other end of the bar to see Nicole and her cousin, deep in conversation.

“You okay?” Samantha asked.

Waverly slightly jumped. “Oh, what?” she asked.

“Is everything okay? You seem suddenly distracted since that hot redhead walked in,” Samantha told her, gesturing over her shoulder toward Nicole.

“Oh, sorry, Sam. Blast from the past,” Waverly told her as she placed a hand on her lower back. “Everything is fine,” she smiled.

“Well, let me know if it’s not, okay?” Samantha asked. “You can be open with me,” she smiled.

Waverly smiled back at Samantha. “Thanks.”

Samantha lightly nudged Waverly with her elbow and winked.

Nicole took a sip of her drink as she looked down at her phone on the bar that was lighting up.

“Who’s Robin Jett? Sounds like a stripper name. Is she hot?” Sarah asked, nudging her cousin.

Nicole looked up to see Waverly wiping down the bar counter near where they were sitting, slightly glancing up at the two girls. When Nicole looked at her, Waverly quickly looked away.

“Well, it’s a dude, so, I guess he’s okay,” Nicole laughed. “Robin works with me, he’s taking care of my cat.”

“You have a cat?” Sarah asked.

“Cats never let you down,” Nicole laughed.

Waverly rolled her eyes as she may her way down to the end of the bar where Nicole and her cousin were sitting. “Hey, last call, we’re closing up soon if you guys want another drink, let me know.”

“We’re good, thanks, Waverly,” Sarah said, politely. “Sorry, we’ll be leaving soon.”

Waverly smiled at Sarah. Nicole continued to keep eye contact with her cousin, then slightly looked up to see Waverly was still standing there.

“Right,” Waverly said as she nodded and went to walk away. “Thanks.”

“You look good,” Nicole finally spoke to her.

Waverly turned back to Nicole with a confused look on her face. “Seriously?” she asked.

“What?” Nicole asked.

“You haven’t been back here in 5 years, Nicole. You show up out of the blue, in the bar that I work at and you tell me that I look good?” Waverly asked, frustrated.

“Maybe we should save this conversation for another time,” Sarah started. “We didn’t mean to cause you any issues, Waverly.”

Sarah and Nicole started to get up from the bar. They dropped cash on the bar to tip the bartender and turned toward the door.

“Why the hell are you even here?” Waverly called out to her, coming around to the other side of the bar.

“Look, Waves, I-” Nicole began softly, looking at her sympathetically.

“Don’t. Don’t do that, Nicole. Don’t call me that, don’t look at me like that, just don’t,” Waverly spat.

Samantha looked up from what she was doing, “Waverly, you okay?” she asked from the other side of the bar.

Waverly nodded back at her.

“I’m sorry, Waverly, I didn’t know you worked here. I just got off the plane and I wanted a drink with my cousin, that’s all,” Nicole said, putting her hands up in front of her.

“I don’t mean Shorty’s, Nicole, I meant Purgatory. Why even come back after all this time?” Waverly asked.

“Oh,” Nicole said quietly. “My mom is in the hospital.”

Waverly’s face softened. “Oh. Nicole, I-”

“It’s okay, really, I’m sorry for upsetting you, Waverly,” Nicole said as she turned to leave, Sarah right behind her.  
 

“Do you want to talk about it?” Sarah asked, breaking the silence in the car as they drove into the darkness of the night.

Nicole rubbed her face with her hand. “Not really,” Nicole laughed slightly. “I just want to go to bed.”

Sarah nodded at her cousin. “So have you talked to your brothers yet? Let them know you’re here?” she asked.

“Thank them for giving my father my phone number?” Nicole huffed. “No, they don’t know I’m here. I just want to focus on my mom. This isn’t about them.”

“Deal,” Sarah said as she continued to drive.

________________

Waverly woke the next morning to the sound of her older sister throwing up in the bathroom next to her room. Waverly groaned at the sound and looked at the time.

“Ugh,” she groaned when she realized it was only 7:30am. “Damnit, Wynonna!”

Waverly rolled out of bed and stood in the doorway of the bathroom. Wynonna was sitting on the floor, near the toilet, wiping her face with her hand.

“Do you need anything?” Waverly asked, annoyed.

“Why’d you give me that last drink,” Wynonna groaned.

“Oh, don’t you even start!” Waverly said, pointing a finger at her sister. “Come on, let’s get you back in bed.”

Waverly helped Wynonna get up from the floor and brought her into her bed.

“I’ll make coffee,” she stated plainly as she headed downstairs into the kitchen.

________________  


Nicole had little difficulty getting out of bed the next morning. Her main focus was to see her mother and find out any information that she needed to know from the hospital that day. So she placed her thoughts of the previous night on the backburner and got herself dressed and ready for the day.

“Do you want to stop for coffee?” Sarah asked. “That hospital coffee is gross,” she laughed.

“Coffee is a must,” Nicole assured her with a laugh.

The pair quickly headed out the door and into Sarah’s car.

________________

Later that morning, Waverly was in her room, sitting on the floor by her bed. She had a box in front of her with the lid off. She was slowly digging through the contents of the box when her sister came into the room behind her.

“Do you want to talk about it?” Wynonna asked.

“Shit, Wynonna! You scared me!” Waverly jumped as she quickly placed the top back on the box and slid it back under her bed. “What’s there to talk about?”

“Hmm, I don’t know, maybe the fact that Haught pants is back in town and you haven’t seen or spoken to her in what? 5 years?”

“There’s nothing to talk about. She’s not here for me, Wynonna. I’m over it. I’m moving on, remember?” Waverly asked, annoyed.

“Are you sure?” Wynonna eyes traveled to the box that Waverly had shoved under the bed.

“Yes,” Waverly said, matter of factly, pushing the box further under the bed with her foot.  

“Okay, babygirl, but I’m just saying. Maybe you guys could talk while she’s here.”

“I have nothing to say to her, Wynonna. It just didn’t work out,” Waverly told her.

“Right, well, I’m going to run a few errands now that I can stand on my own,” Wynonna laughed. “Call me if you need anything?”

Waverly nodded and sat down on her bed. When she heard the front door close, she reached back under the bed to pull the box back out. Lifting the lid, she started to flip through some of the photos that she had in the box. There were also various images from magazines and newspaper articles. There was a folded piece of white paper, something printed from the computer on it. Waverly pulled it out and unfolded the paper carefully. At the top of the image, there were large letters reading ‘Gallery Opening!’ Waverly slowly ran her fingers over the smaller letters below the title, ‘Featuring Nicole Haught.’  


**_March 2014_ **

_“Waves! You’re going to be late!” Wynonna called out through the bathroom door. “You’re about to be on an airplane, who are you trying to impress?”_

_“I’m not trying to impress anyone, Wynonna,” Waverly said as she opened the door. “I’m making sure I have everything.”_

_“Alright, well, we need to leave soon so you get through security on time! Are Jeremy and Rosita sure they don’t need a ride?” Wynonna asked. “I don’t mind.”_

_“No, they’re fine,” Waverly said as she walked past her sister, grabbing her suitcase. “Ready,” she smiled._

_Waverly made her way through security and found a seat near her departure gate. She pulled her phone out and opened up a text to Rosita._

_Waverly (8:30am): hey, sorry I won’t be able to come right away, Wynonna really needed my help. I’ll meet you guys out there, don’t have too much fun without me!_

_Rosita (8:33am): Cancun will miss you, can’t wait to see you! Spring Break!_

_Waverly sighed and slid her phone back into her pocket, pulling out a folded up paper that she had in the other pocket. She unfolded a paper that read ‘Gallery Opening, Featuring Nicole Haught.’ It had been 3 months since she and Nicole broke up. Nicole didn’t come home for Christmas that year, so they hadn’t seen or spoken to each other much since they broke up over the phone._

_Waverly began to feel guilty for lying to her sister and her friends. She made them believe that she was doing better without Nicole. She wanted them to feel that she was happy to move on by proving that she could have fun without her. But the ache in her heart hadn’t lessened at all by this point._

_Waverly arrived in New York with a couple hours to spare before the gallery opened. She checked into her hotel room to freshen up. After taking a long, hot shower, she got herself dressed and ready to head to the gallery. She began to grow nervous about how Nicole would react when she sees her._

_“Maybe I shouldn’t” Waverly said to her reflection in the mirror. “This is stupid, what am I doing here?”_

_Waverly sighed and rubbed the back of her neck. She took in a deep breath, letting it out slowly._

_“It’s Nicole,” she continued to talk to herself. “She’s not going to be mad. But what if she moved on. What if she’s different. Do people change that fast?”_

_Waverly glanced at the clock._

_“I better go,” she said, looking at herself once more in the mirror before heading out the door._

_Waverly made her way to the location of the art gallery. As she approached the building, she could see a crowd of people filing into the small space. Waverly stood back, out of sight, observing the scene. When the crowd outside were mostly inside, she took another deep breath and began walking slowly toward the building._

_Waverly stopped in the window of the art gallery, peering inside to see the walls lined in photographs. People walked around the room, looking at the photos and casually conversing with each other. She continued to scan the room until she spotted Nicole standing on one side of the room. She was talking to two other people. One was a tall, lighter haired man. He smiled at her when they spoke, he looked like he might have been making jokes, Nicole laughed. The other was a tall, slender woman. Waverly stopped to look at her for a bit longer. She had dark, shoulder length hair and she couldn’t help but noticing her natural beauty. As she spoke to Nicole, she would place her hand on her arm at times, Waverly noticed._

_Nicole looked up from her conversation with her friends and Waverly noticed that she was looking in her direction. Nicole’s face became suddenly confused. She turned to her friends and said something that Waverly assumed was excusing herself from the conversation and started to walk toward the front of the building. Waverly started to panic and turned, walking quickly down the street._

_“Waverly?” Nicole’s voice called out from behind her._

_Waverly stopped in her tracks and turned around slowly._


	4. Chapter 4

Nicole and Sarah entered the hospital with coffee in hand a little while later. Nicole sighed as she headed to the front desk to inquire about her mother and her location so she could go see how she was doing.

“Nicole Haught?” A voice came from behind her.

Nicole turned around to see who it was. “Champ?” she asked, confused. “What are you doing here dressed in scrubs?”

“I work here!” Champ informed her.

“Well, that’s...frightening. You don’t do surgery by any chance, do you?” Nicole asked.

“I’m a nurse’s assistant,” Champ told her.

Nicole breathed a sigh of relief.

“So I hear you’re not with Waverly anymore.”

“Um, yeah that’s been a while now, Champ,” Nicole shook her head and continued to try to walk away from Champ.

“You’re welcome, by the way,” Champ called out to her.

“What?” Nicole stopped and turned around, confused.

“You know, if it weren’t for me rejecting her that night at her New Year’s Eve party, she would have never fallen into your arms,” Champ told her.

Nicole laughed. “Oh, is that how it went?”

“Yeah, you were there! Don’t you remember?” he asked.

 

**_December 31, 2008._ **

_ “Come on, Nicky! You’re taking forever! Who you trying to impress tonight?” Nicole’s cousin yelled through the door of the bathroom. _

_ “You’re lucky I’m taking you with me tonight, Sarah! Would you rather stay and hang out with my mom?” Nicole laughed as she opened the door. _

_ “Damn, girl, really though, who are you trying to impress?” Sarah said as she looked her cousin up and down. _

_ Nicole wore dark washed jeans and a blue button down shirt. _

_ “Is it too dressed up?” Nicole said, pulling at her shirt. _

_ “Nah, it’s New Year’s Eve! Besides, you’ll definitely impress her in that outfit,” she winked. _

_ Nicole playfully pushed her cousin. “Let’s go!” she said as she led her down the stairs and out the door. _

_ Nicole and her cousin pulled into Waverly’s driveway. Nicole let out a sigh. _

_ “You okay?” Sarah asked. _

_ “Totally!” she said as she got out of the car and headed for the door of the homestead. _

_ Nicole turned the door handle and pushed the door open, looking over the room as she entered the house. She noticed teenagers throughout the living room. Her eyes quickly found Waverly, who was sitting on the edge of the couch. She smiled at the girl as she looked up at her. Waverly quickly got up from the couch and made her way into the kitchen. Nicole looked confused, but quickly found her way to Rosita and Jeremy, who were sitting on the couch where Waverly was. _

_ “What’s up with her?” Nicole asked as she joined the other two. _

_ “Who knows,” Jeremy shrugged. “Who’s your friend?” _

_ “I’m going to go check on her,” Rosita told them as she walked away. _

_ “This is my cousin, Sarah. She’s staying with us so I told her she could tag along,” Nicole laughed. “Sarah, this is Jeremy.” _

_ “Nice to meet you!” Jeremy said, cheerfully. _

_ The trio fell into easy conversation. _

_ “Hey, I think I’m going to go get a drink,” Nicole told them, a little while later. “Do you want anything?” she asked her cousin. _

_ “Yeah, I’ll take whatever,” Sarah laughed as she turned back to continue talking with Jeremy. _

_ Nicole made her way into the kitchen. Waverly was standing up against the counter, Rosita had left her alone at this point. _

_ “Hey there,” Nicole smiled. “Anything good to drink?” _

_ “What? Oh, yeah, there’s stuff in here,” Waverly gestured to a cooler. _

_ “So how’s it going?” Nicole asked, taking two drinks out of the cooler. _

_ “Pretty  good, hey, I have to go, uh, you know, entertain,” Waverly said as she quickly hustled out of the kitchen. _

_ Nicole stared in her direction, confused. She then carried the two drinks back to the living room, handing one to her cousin, rejoining the conversation with Jeremy. _

_ She tried on two more occasions to talk to Waverly throughout the night, only to have her quickly walk away with some excuse about needing to help someone with something. She ended up spending most of the night talking with Jeremy and her cousin. _

_ Suddenly the door swung open and Champ and Pete appeared in the doorway. _

_ “Party’s here!” Champ called out. _

_ Nicole looked in Waverly’s direction to see her roll her eyes at Champ as he made his way to her. _

_ “What are you doing here, Champ?” Waverly asked. _

_ “Rosie told me about it. It wouldn’t be New Year’s Eve without an Earp party! Besides, I heard you don’t have anyone to kiss at midnight,” he said as he wrapped his arm around her shoulder. _

_ “Champ, I’m going to say this very nicely. You’re going to have to find someone else,” she said as she ducked away from him. _

_ Nicole smiled as she continued to watch the interaction between Waverly and Champ. _

_ “Whatever, Waverly!” Champ called out for others to hear. “Just remember, you had a chance!” _

_ Waverly nodded at Champ as she walked away from him and into the kitchen. Nicole excused herself from the conversation happening around her and stood up, walking toward the kitchen. As she reached the doorway, she heard Waverly having a discussion with her sister. _

_ “Nah, they’re not really my type,” Waverly said to her sister. _

_ “Who’s not your type?” Nicole said, as she entered the kitchen behind Waverly. _

_ “Nicole! Uh, hey,” Waverly said shyly, rubbing the back of her neck. _

_ The pair got quiet and awkwardly stared at each other. _

_ “Okay..” Wynonna said, breaking the silence. “I’m going to go save Xavier from those high school boys before he hurts himself in an arm wrestling tournament.” _

_ “I don’t know,” Nicole started. “He seems pretty strong.” _

_ “Oh, he is,” Wynonna winked as she left the room. _

_ “So what’s up, Waverly, I feel like you’ve been avoiding me all night,” Nicole stated. _

_ “What? Oh, no. You know, hostess duties! I feel like I’ve been running around all night!” Waverly laughed. _

_ “You’ve spent the last hour sitting on the edge of the couch, talking with Rosita and Chrissy,” Nicole stated as she grabbed herself another drink. _

_ “Oh, you’ve been watching me?” Waverly smiled softly. “I thought maybe you were preoccupied with your-” _

_ “My cousin?” Nicole finished her sentence. _

_ “You’re what?” Waverly asked. _

_ “That’s my cousin, not my date, if that’s what you thought,” Nicole laughed. _

_ “What? No, I, uh, I knew that,” Waverly looked away from Nicole. _

_ Nicole laughed. _

_ “Sorry,” Waverly looked at her apologetically. _

_ “Were you jealous?” Nicole asked. _

_ “No, I just thought maybe, I, I don’t know,” Waverly stuttered. _

_ “Five minutes until midnight!” Rosita called into the kitchen. _

_ “Better get out there!” Waverly smiled as she made her way into the living room. Nicole smiled and followed behind her. _

_ Waverly sat down on the couch and Nicole sat next to her. The group began to pair off in the next few minutes. Nicole noticed Waverly looking around the room, nervously. _

_ “You okay?” Nicole asked. _

_ Waverly nodded and smiled back at Nicole. The group began to countdown the final 10 seconds of the day. _

_ “Happy New Year!” the group called out to each other. _

_ Waverly noticed most of her friends were kissing someone else, some more than others. Champ looked toward Waverly once more and she shook her head at him. He then turned to make out with Chrissy. After a few seconds, Waverly stood up and walked up the stairs of the house. Nicole looked up, concerned and followed her up the stairs a couple minutes later. _

 

**_Present day_ **

“Yeah, I was there,” Nicole informed him.

“I was even there, Chump, and I remember it a lot differently than you,” Sarah laughed.

“Now, if you excuse us,” Nicole started. “We’re going to go see my mother.”

The pair made their way down the hallway of the hospital to Nicole’s mother’s room. As they reached the door, Nicole took a deep breath in and let it out slowly.

“You okay?” Sarah asked.

Nicole nodded and knocked lightly on the door. “Mom?” she called out quietly. “Mom,” Nicole sighed as she entered the room, seeing her mother laying in the hospital bed.

“Oh, Nicky,” her mother smiled.

“I’m sorry I wasn’t here.”

“No, no,” her mom started. “Let’s not do that, you’re here now!”

“I’ve missed you, mom,” Nicole smiled as she hugged her mom.

“Tell me everything, Nicky, how has New York been?” her mother asked.

“What about you? What’s going on?” Nicole asked, concerned.

“Oh, just a heart attack,” she responded nonchalantly. 

“Just a heart attack?” Nicole asked.

“They’re going to fix it, Nicky, I’m going into surgery and then I’ll be good as new!” she assured her.

Nicole looked back at her mom, concerned.

“Don’t do that, Nicole,” her mother said.

“Don’t do what?” Nicole asked.

“Don’t look at me like you did when you were a teenager,” her mom explained. “Don’t look at me like you know better than I do.”

“Mom-”

“Because you usually do,” she winked.

 

**_October 2008_ **

_ “Hey mom! I’m home!” Nicole called out as she and Waverly entered the house together. _

_ There was no answer. _

_ “Mom?” Nicole called out again. _

_ “In here,” a quiet voice came from a darkened dining room. _

_ Nicole turned toward the room and switched on the light. _

_ “Mom! What the hell!” Nicole yelled as she stared at her mother, who was sitting at the table with an ice pack on her clearly swollen eye. “Where is he?!” Nicole grew angry. _

_ “Nicky, relax,” her mother breathed softly. _

_ “How the hell am I supposed to relax when you’re sitting in here with a black eye!?” Nicole started to pace. _

_ “It’s not a black eye, I just bumped it. Who’s your friend?” Her mother asked, changing the subject and gesturing to Waverly, who was peering in through the doorway.   _

_ “Oh, sorry, mom, this is Waverly. I was going to see if it’s cool if she crashes here tonight, but clearly we have other things to deal with.” _

_ “There’s nothing to deal with, Nicole. Waverly, you’re more than welcome to stay,” her mom smiled at the brunette. _

_ “Thank you, Mrs. Haught,” Waverly smiled. _

_ “So are you going to tell me where he is?” Nicole returned to questioning her mother. _

_ “Nicole, do you want me to go hang out in your room while you guys talk?” Waverly asked. _

_ Nicole smiled softly at Waverly and nodded. “Second door on the left,” she gestured up the stairs. _

_ Waverly nodded. _

_ “Thank you,” Nicole mouthed to Waverly as she turned to go upstairs. “Now seriously,” she turned back to her mother. _

_ “We just got into a disagreement. You know how it is when your father drinks,” her mother trailed off. _

_ “That doesn’t make it okay, mom. How bad is it?” _

_ Nicole’s mother removed the ice to reveal an extremely swollen and bruised eye. Above her eyebrow was a small cut. _

_ “Shit! You’re bleeding,” Nicole sighed as she went into the kitchen to get a cloth and ran it under water. She returned to her mother and gently wiped the blood away from her forehead. “Mom...” she started. _

_ “I know, Nicky, it’s just-” her mom started. _

_ “It’s just nothing! You can’t keep making excuses for him! Enough is enough.” _

_ “I know.” _

_ “Where did he go this time?” Nicole asked. _

_ “Aunt Jeanine’s.” _

_ “Aunt Jeanine,” Nicole repeated, shaking her head. “Is he still banging her?” _

_ “Nicole!” her mother yelled at her. “Watch your mouth!” _

_ “Please, mom. I’m not an idiot. I know he’s been banging your sister for years now,” Nicole stated, disgusted. _

_ “Why don’t you tell me about the girl you have in your room right now?” Nicole’s mother winked at her, changing the subject. _

_ “She’s a friend,” Nicole answered, plainly.  _

_ “Just a friend?” her mother questioned. _

_ “It’s not like that,” Nicole smiled. “At least I don’t think it is,” she told her. _

_ “So it’s not that you don’t want it to be?” her mother asked. _

_ “Mom, how about we discuss what’s going on with dad?” Nicole changed the subject back. “We can discuss my non-existent love life later.” _

_ “Nicole, I don’t want you to have to worry about or deal with any of this. It’s not your job to take care of me,” her mother told her. _

_ “But you’re my mother, and I’m not going to sit here and let someone put their hands on you.” _

_ “It’s not just someone, Nicole, he’s your father.” _

_ “Especially not my father. He’s done enough. Tell him he can stay at Jeanine’s. I don’t want to see him around here anymore,” Nicole spat. _

_ “Nicole-” _

_ “Mom, you can’t seriously just let him back here!” Nicole yelled. _

_ “We will work something out.” _

_ “Work something out?” Nicole asked. _

_ “It’s between me and your father.” _

_ “It’s not just between you and my father! You don’t think this affects me too? Listen to me mom, he needs to go. You deserve better and you know it. I’ll give you until the end of the month or I’m getting the cops involved. It’s him or me.  He’s gone or I go.” _

_ Nicole’s mother sighed. “Okay.” _

_ “End of the month,” Nicole told her, sternly.   _

_ “End of the month. Now go get your girl,” her mom winked. _

_ “She’s not my girl,” Nicole laughed. _   
  


**_Present Day_ **

“I was just looking out for your best interest, mom,” Nicole spoke softly. “He was never going to give you the life you deserved. And look how much better off we were!”

“I still ended up in the hospital,” she laughed.

“Not funny,” Nicole looked at her, sternly.

“Lighten up, Nicky,” she winked. “So are you going to tell me about New York, or what? What’s your next adventure?”

“Africa,” Nicole smiled.

“Africa? Nicky! That’s amazing,” her mother smiled. “My daughter, the famous photographer!”

“I wouldn’t go that far,” Nicole laughed.

Just then, a nurse came into the room. “How are we doing, Mrs. Haught?” she asked.

“Better now that my daughter is here!” she smiled.

“The infamous daughter,” the nurse smiled.

Nicole blushed and smiled back at the nurse.

“Your mother has been talking about you since she came in.”

“Apparently it takes being in the hospital for her to take some time off to come see me again!” her mom laughed.

“Mom, I-” Nicole started.

“I’m only joking!” her mother laughed.

“She’s funny,” the nurse winked.

Nicole laughed and nodded. “Hey, can I talk to you alone for a minute?” she asked the nurse.

She nodded and joined Nicole in the corner of the room while Sarah moved to talk with her aunt. 

“So what are we looking at here?” Nicole asked. “In all seriousness.”

“Well, the surgery today is to repair damages found in the previous scans. We’re not sure the full extent of the damage at this point but we will know more when we are in surgery. That’s when we will update you and discuss more options if necessary,” the nurse explained.

“And what are we looking at for recovery? She’s coming out of this, right?” Nicole asked.

“Miss Haught, we’re going to do everything we can to help your mother,” the nurse assured her.

“And survival rate?” Nicole asked.

“We’re going to be doing everything we can,” the nurse repeated.

 

Nicole and Sarah spent most of the day at the hospital, while her mother was in surgery, until they realized how hungry they had become. The pair decided to find food and go back to the hotel room to clean up a little before heading back to the hospital. Sarah was in the bathroom and Nicole’s phone started to ring on the bed. 

Nicole picked her phone up and placed it to her ear. “Hello?”

“Miss Haught, this is Doctor Jones from Purgatory General Hospital.”

“Oh, hey,” Nicole said.

“Miss Haught, There were some unpredicted complications with your mother,” he began.

“Complications?” Nicole asked, confused. “What do you mean?”

“During surgery, there ended up being more damage than we thought-” the voice on the other end of the phone began to fade out.

After the conversation, she hung up the phone. There was a sudden ringing in her head. Nicole rubbed her face with her hand and dug at her ear, attempting to stop the ringing. She felt like the room started to spin as she replayed parts of the phone conversation in her head.

_ “Complications.” _

_ “Medically induced coma.” _

_ “Chance of survival.” _

_ “Just a chance?” _

_ “We need to talk options.” _

Nicole found herself wandering out into the cold air, heading toward Shorty’s for a drink.

_ “Maybe I shouldn’t go to Shorty’s,” she thought to herself. “Waverly doesn’t want to see me. Is she even there? Maybe I can ask if we can talk. What if she doesn’t want to talk to me? But it’s Waverly. But it’s been 5 years, Haught, you should have come back sooner. You didn’t even try.” _

 

As she approached the bar, she saw Waverly walking around the side of the building. As she was about to call out to her, she saw the blonde bartender from the night before, following her. Nicole slowly moved to the other side of the cars in the parking lot where she could see the pair stop near the side of the building.

“You stalking me?” Waverly laughed as she grabbed the other girl’s hand.

“Oh, you don’t like sneaking around outside of the workplace?” Samantha winked.

Waverly leaned up against the side of the building and pulled Samantha in front of her.

“It’s not so bad,” she smiled as she pulled Samantha in for a kiss.

Nicole found herself briefly staring at the pair. A sharp pain began to grow in her chest. She took a sharp breath in, filling her lungs with the cold air of the night. She turned away and started to walk down the street into the night. She wasn’t sure where she was heading, she wasn’t sure where she needed to go. 

On her walk, Nicole stopped into a small, local liquor store to buy a bottle of whisky. She smiled at the cashier as she handed him her ID. Her eyes slightly burned from the bright lights in the store. She nodded at the cashier when he handed her the bottle and she thanked him on her way out the door. 

Nicole made her way back into the cold, popping the bottle open, taking a quick swig before holding the bottle back at her side, still in the brown paper bag. She walked for what seemed like an eternity, finding herself around the back side of Purgatory High School, taking a seat on the bleachers near the football field. She opened the bottle again and took another swig.


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for all the feedback! I'm glad you guys are liking it! This chapter is pretty angsty as well, but hopefully it'll get a little lighter in the upcoming chapters ;)

Over an hour had gone by since Sarah had last heard from Nicole. She began to become nervous when she realized how late it was getting. After several unanswered calls, she began to grow more frustrated. She got in the car and started to drive around town. Pulling into Shorty’s, Sarah got out of her car and hoped that her cousin would be inside. She dialed her number once more before going into the bar.

“Nicole, where the hell are you? Call me back!” Sarah yelled into the phone before she hung it up.

As she entered the bar, Wynonna called out to her. “What up, Sare bear?!”

“Wynonna, you really need to stop making up nicknames for people,” Sarah told her.

“Never! Where’s Haught pants?” Wynonna asked.

“I was wondering if she’s been in tonight?” Sarah asked.

“I haven’t seen her! Check with my sister,” Wynonna told her.

“Thanks,” Sarah smiled.

“Hey, Waverly, have you seen Nicole tonight?” Sarah asked, concerned.

“What? No, sorry Sarah. Is everything okay?” Waverly asked.

“I think she’s just having a rough night. She’s not returning my calls and she’s been gone for a while. She left without me knowing. We were supposed to go back to the hospital to see how her mom was doing after surgery,” Sarah explained.

“Do you need help finding her?” Waverly asked.

“Oh, it’s okay, Waverly,” Sarah told her. “Sorry to concern you.”

“No, let me help,” she said. She turned to Samantha. “Hey, I have to help with something, is it cool if I take off?”

“Is everything okay?” Samantha asked.

“I’m not sure,” Waverly told her. “Can I explain it all later?” she asked.

“Yeah, sure,” Samantha told her, looking down toward the floor.

“Hey,” Waverly said as she placed her hand on Samantha’s shoulder. “Look, it’s kind of complicated right now, but I promise I’ll explain everything.”

Samantha nodded and Waverly kissed her on the cheek. “Thank you,” she smiled as she left the bar with Sarah.

“Hey!” Wynonna called out as she followed them out of the bar. “I want to come.”

Sarah and Wynonna drove around Purgatory for a while, trying to see if Nicole was walking around town. Waverly followed them in her jeep.

“Where is she?” Sarah asked as she tried dialing Nicole’s number again.

Wynonna’s phone began to ring. “Hello?” she answered.

“Wynonna, try the school,” Waverly said quickly.

“The school?” Wynonna asked.

“Trust me,” Waverly nodded.

Sarah pulled into the parking lot behind the school, Waverly right behind her. The three woman walked toward the football field, noticing someone sitting on the bottom of the bleachers.

“Nicole?” Sarah asked.

“Guilty as charged,” Nicole said, sarcastically, looking up to see her cousin walking toward her.

“What the hell, Nicole?” Sarah asked, frustrated.

“What, Sarah?” Nicole asked as if nothing was wrong.

“You disappear for hours and act like it’s no big deal?” Sarah asked, frustrated.

“I’m a grown ass adult, Sarah, I’m fine. It’s Purgatory, how much trouble can someone get in here?” she asked, sarcastically, throwing her hands up in the air. “Clearly you got the bloodhounds to find me,” she gestured toward Waverly and Wynonna who were not right behind Sarah. “How did you know I was here?”

“You’re drunk,” Waverly huffed.

“She speaks,” Nicole said, pretending to be surprised.

“Don’t be an ass, Nicole,” Sarah told her.

“Oh, you’re on her side now?” Nicole asked

“There’s no sides. We wanted to be sure you were safe,” Sarah explained.

“Like she gives a damn,” Nicole gestured toward Waverly. “I’m fine! My only problem is that I’m running out of alcohol. Wynonna, you got any?” she asked, turning toward Wynonna.

Wynonna stared back at Nicole, without speaking.

“Let’s go, Nicole,” Sarah said, sternly, reaching out to take her cousin’s hand.

“Guys, I’m fine, I just needed to be alone,” Nicole said in a softer tone.

“Can I have a minute with her?” Waverly asked, turning to Wynonna and Sarah.

Nicole groaned. Sarah and Wynonna moved to the other side of the bleachers to give Waverly time to talk to Nicole. Nicole laid back on the bleacher bench.

“Waverly, this isn’t us in high school. You don’t have to take care of me, I’ve figured out how to do that on my own now,” Nicole told her.

“It’s apparent,” Waverly said, sarcastically.

 

**_May 2009_ **

_“Nicole? What are you doing on here?” Waverly asked as she approached her girlfriend, who was laying on one of the benches of the school beachers near the football field._

_“Oh, uh, sorry, getting some fresh air,” Nicole stuttered._

_“Well, we have class, are you coming?” Waverly asked._

_“Taking the day off,” Nicole slurred._

_“Wait, are you…” Waverly squinted at her. “Drunk?” she asked._

_Nicole sighed. “Bring on the judgement,” Nicole rolled her eyes. “Welcome to the real Nicole Haught.”_

_“Nicole, what the hell?” Waverly asked, frustrated. “You’re seriously drunk at school?”_

_“You’re going to be late for class,” Nicole told her._

_“Yeah, no, we’re getting out of here,” Waverly said, pulling Nicole off the bench._

_“Waverly-” Nicole protested._

_“Nicole, shut your mouth and come with me,” Waverly said sternly._

_Nicole sighed and followed Waverly to her jeep. When they returned to the homestead, Wynonna looked shocked to see Waverly in the middle of a school day._

_“Are you two playing hooky?” Wynonna asked._

_“Don’t ask,” Waverly huffed and she gave Nicole a push on her way up the stairs._

_“Now sit,” Waverly continued to speak sternly as she pointed at the bed._

_“Can I lay down instead? My head is starting to hurt,” Nicole asked._

_“Whatever you do, you’re talking,” Waverly told her._

_“Can we talk about this later?” Nicole asked._

_“Absolutely not.”_

_“Fine,” Nicole groaned._

_“Drinking at school, Nicole? I don’t even know what to say to that!” Waverly yelled._

_“There’s nothing to say. It’s inevitable,” Nicole told her._

_“What is inevitable?” Waverly asked, confused._

_“That I turn out like him. I have his DNA, Waverly,” Nicole explained._

_“Nicole-”_

_“I saw my dad this morning.”_

_Waverly’s eyes widened, knowingly._

_“Nicole-” Waverly placed her hand on her girlfriend’s shoulder._

_“Don’t give me sympathy, Waverly. I get it, poor Nicole. My dad sucks. He’s an ass, an alcoholic, nothing he says matters. It does matter, Waverly. He’s still my father. Whether I like it or not, I’m a part of him. And maybe I’m more like him that I thought. Here I am, turning to alcohol to solve all my problems!” Nicole leaned back on the bed. “I’m no good, Waves. I’m sorry.”_

_“Don’t. Don’t ever apologize to me for things that you cannot control. You are NOT your father, Nicole. You’re not and you know that. So I’m not going to sit here and listen to that as an excuse for your stupid actions!” Waverly argued._

_Nicole sat up and looked back at her girlfriend. “He’s a fucking jackass,” she turned and punched the pillow on the bed. “And my fucking brothers aren’t any better. They all came over this morning raiding the house, accusing my mom of all these things. She doesn’t deserve it.”_

_Waverly sat down on the bed next to Nicole. She took her hand and set it over Nicole’s heart. “There it is,” Waverly said softly._

_“There what is?” Nicole huffed._

_“You have a good heart, Nicole. I get you’re mad and it isn’t fair, but you can’t just get drunk at school and go off on an aggressive rampage. And trying to push me away isn’t really the solution.”_

_“It isn’t working, is it?” Nicole asked._

_Waverly shook her head._

_“Thank you,” Nicole sighed, leaning her head down on Waverly’s shoulder._

 

**_Present Day_ **

“You know what? Fuck you, Waverly. You don't have that power over me anymore!” Nicole spat.

“I’m not here to have power over you, Nicole,” Waverly explained.

“Then why are you here?” Nicole asked. “You didn’t want me anymore, remember?”

Waverly looked back at Nicole without speaking.

“Do you not remember? Shall I remind you? You want to go down memory lane? Clearly you were wrong about me all those years ago,” Nicole spat.

“What’s that supposed to mean?” Waverly asked, frustrated.

“I _am_ my father,” Nicole stated. “I avoid things, I leave and I don’t come back. When I come back, I mess everyone’s lives up even more. That’s what we Haughts do, we fuck shit up, Waverly. Nothing good comes to us, because we don’t deserve it. So please, share, why are you here?”

“I’m not even sure anymore,” she sighed.

“Waverly to the rescue right? I don’t need you to save me,” Nicole told her.

“I’m not trying to save you Nicole! You haven’t really changed much, have you?” Waverly asked. “I get it, trust me, I know how much your dad and brothers suck because I was there, remember? I was there to pick up the pieces when you needed it. But apparently you know how to do that all on your own now, so I guess you don’t need us anymore.”

Waverly walked over to Sarah and Wynonna. “She’s all yours,” she huffed.

“Did you know almost 1 in every 4 deaths is related to heart disease?” Nicole asked as Sarah and Wynonna came back over to where she was, Waverly trailed behind. “Common risk factors include unhealthy diet, inactivity and excessive drinking.”

“Nicole-” Sarah tried to comfort her.

“My mom didn’t drink a day in her life. My dad though, well, we all know that sob story,” Nicole said, sarcastically.

“Nicole, let’s get you back to the hotel. We can talk about this more there,” Sarah told her.

“Guys, you can go, I’m fine,” she said, calmly.

“Waves, go back with Sarah, I’ll take Haught back in the Jeep, Wynonna said, reaching her hand out for the keys.

Waverly nodded and handed the keys to Wynonna. Waverly and Sarah headed toward the parking lot. Nicole stood up to try to leave.

“Take a seat,” Wynonna said, gesturing to the bleacher stairs.

Nicole sighed and sat down. “Wynonna-”

“No, you’re going to listen,” Wynonna told her.

Nicole nodded.

“First of all, Waverly was just trying to help. I know she can be overbearing, but she doesn’t deserve to be treated like that. Second of all, public intoxication doesn’t look good on a record, trust me, I know. So if you think getting drunk and wandering around the high school you graduated from is going to solve all your problems, I think you need to choose a different route,” Wynonna said.

“You think you know me, Wynonna,” Nicole huffed.

“Haught, I think we both know that I do know you. I’ve been you. Turn to alcohol because it temporarily takes the pain away. Well, surprise, it doesn’t. And you keep talking to me like that, I’m going to show you what pain feels like. So how about you try telling me why the hell you're drunk at purgatory high school.”

“I didn’t want to go to Shorty’s,” Nicole told her.

“So the high school is the next best thing?” Wynonna asked, sarcastically

“My mom is in a coma,” Nicole said, softly.

“What?” Wynonna asked.

“Complications with her heart surgery today. She’s in a coma. She’s not even 50, Wynonna. My mom is in a coma and there’s not a damn thing I can do but wait. So I decided to wait with whiskey,” Nicole said, holding up the bottle.

“Nicole,” Wynonna said softly. “I’m sorry.”

“You know what’s funny? She’s been begging me for years to be back here for Christmas. I’ve been avoiding this place instead of facing things. My mom is the one person I’d come back here for and I can’t even spend time with her. So I’m here, and I’m alone. And before you say it, I know you’re here and Sarah is here and even Waverly, because she’s a caring person but no offense, you guys aren’t my mom. And Waverly seems to be moving on with that hot blonde at the bar,” Nicole said, throwing her hands up in the air.

“Waverly would still bend over backwards for you, Haught,” Wynonna assured her.

“I don’t want her to. If she’s happy, that’s great,” Nicole said. “I don’t make people happy, Wynonna. I wouldn’t want to take that away from her.”

“This isn’t about her, Nicole. It’s about you and whether or not you’re going to be okay,” Wynonna explained.

“I made it this far, Wynonna.”

“Let’s get you back to the hotel before Nedley shows up and I have to talk us out of this,” Wynonna said, helping Nicole off of the bleachers.

Nicole rolled her eyes and followed Wynonna.

“Throwback,” Nicole laughed as she climbed into the passenger side of the Jeep.

“What?” Wynonna asked, confused.

“Spent a lot of good times in this Jeep,” Nicole laughed, leaning back against the seat.

“Gross. I don’t sit in the backseat for a reason,” Wynonna huffed.

“Well, in that case, you might not want to sit in that seat either,” Nicole said under her breath.

“What?” Wynonna asked.

“Nothing, she let out a small laugh. “Stop at Shorty’s?” Nicole asked as they were nearing its location.

“Yeah, absolutely not,” Wynonna said as she drove by the building.

 

“Waverly, are you okay?” Samantha asked as the brunette returned to the bar. “You didn’t have to come back to work. We’re about to be done closing up.”

“I came to see you,” Waverly told her. “Can we talk?”

Samantha nodded and Waverly slid into the bench of one of the tables at Shorty’s, gesturing for the blonde to join her. Samantha sat next to her on the bench.

“You’ve probably gathered, but Nicole is my ex girlfriend,” Waverly began.

Samantha nodded.

“We met when I was a junior in high school. She was a senior,” Waverly explained.

“Ah, the high school sweetheart,” Samantha winked.

Waverly nodded. “The only sweetheart. We were together for 5 years and I’m not really ready to discuss it totally, but the year we broke up, that was really the last time we really talked.”

“So now having her back here-”

“Has been...weird,” Waverly said. “I’m sorry.”

“Hey,” Samantha said, placing her hand on top of Waverly’s. “You don’t have to apologize. I get it. I don’t expect you to not have a past, Waverly.”

“But I’m sure you didn’t expect it to walk through the door the night after our first date,” Waverly laughed.

“No, but not everything is the way we expect it. I also didn’t expect to start working at the bar and meet a really cute, really amazing girl,” Samantha winked.

“You’re pretty smooth,” Waverly smiled, leaning against Samantha.

“So, do you want to tell me what happened tonight?” Samantha asked.

“Nicole is going through a lot,” Waverly explained. “Her mom is in the hospital, she had surgery today. I was just trying to help, but I didn’t,” she sighed.

“Listen, Waverly, I get that there’s a lot going on right now for you that you didn’t expect to happen. We don’t have to do anything you’re not ready for or take anything further than even talking if you don’t want,” Samantha explained. “I don’t want you to feel pressured or anything, I just want you to know that I’ll be here.”

“You’re really sweet, Sam,” Waverly smiled. “With Nicole, it’s just...really complicated. And with her mom being sick, I don’t know what to feel. I was close with her mom too, you know?”

Samantha nodded.

“I really like you, Sam. I like getting to know you. I like whatever this is,” she gestured between them. “It’s just that it’s all happening so fast and with Nicole in town, I’m confused, I guess. I don’t want to keep things from you, I just don’t know what I feel right now, if that makes sense.”

“How about we just take it one day at a time?” Samantha asked.

“I’d like that,” Waverly smiled, kissing Samantha on the cheek.

“Should we get you home?” Samantha asked.

“Yeah, is there any way you can give me a ride? Wynonna has my jeep,” Waverly told her.

“Absolutely,” Samantha smiled, leading Waverly out of the bar.


	6. Chapter 6

The next day, Nicole rolled over in her bed and groaned at the pain in her head. She reached up, rubbing her eyes with her hands.

“I hope you have the worst headache of your life, you asshole,” Sarah told her as she threw a pillow at her.

“Fuck, Sarah!” Nicole groaned, attempting to throw the pillow back at her cousin.

“Don’t start, Nicole,” Sarah warned.

“Sarah, I’m sorry! It was a rough day,” Nicole told her, sitting up in the bed, planting her feet on the floor.

“Great excuse to be a complete ass,” Sarah rolled her eyes. “You might want to start the apology train with the Earp sisters, by the way,” she suggested.

“I’ll apologize,” Nicole sighed. “I have to go to the hospital first thing this morning though. I couldn’t get myself there last night.”

“Maybe the entire bottle of whiskey had something to do with it,” Sarah said, sarcastically.

“I meant I wasn’t ready,” Nicole told her. “But probably that too,” she sighed, laying back down on the bed, covering her face with her hand.

Sarah stood up and walked over to her cousin. “Get up, sunshine,” she said, lightly kicking Nicole’s legs.

“You’re the worst,” Nicole huffed.  


A little later that morning, Nicole and Sarah made their way to the hospital to see her mother. The hospital had called again that morning, requesting to discuss what will happen next with her mom, depending on her condition. When the pair arrived at the hospital, Nicole was wearing a pair of sunglasses and did not take them off as she entered the building.

“You just scream hangover,” Sarah rolled her eyes.

“Are you going to be pissed at me all day?” Nicole asked.

“Probably,” Sarah winked, sitting in a chair in the waiting room while Nicole met with the doctor.

“Miss Haught,” the doctor began. “Thank you for coming in today. There hasn’t been any change overnight. She’s still in the coma, we’ve been monitoring brain activity throughout the night and will continue as the day proceeds.”

“What are our options from here?” Nicole asked, taking her sunglasses off her eyes, squinting from the brightness of the lights.

“Well,” the doctor began. “We wait,” he stated.

“That’s it?” Nicole asked.

“We will continue to monitor brain activity at this point. Measure quality of life, and discuss other options if necessary.”

“Quality of life?” Nicole asked.

“Well, sometimes people are only kept alive-” the doctor began.

“Never mind,” Nicole cut him off. “I don’t want to have that conversation.”

“Well, Miss Haught. It’s always a possibility, so it’s something you should think about. And with you being the power of attorney-”

“It’s my decision,” Nicole sighed, nodding at the doctor.

The doctor nodded back at Nicole.

“Thank you,” she said as she turned, starting to walk toward the door of the hospital.

“Nicole?” her cousin asked, quickly standing up from her chair, following her.

Nicole continued walking, not turning around to see her cousin. She stood next to the car, waiting for Sarah to unlock the doors. When she heard the click of the locks, she opened the door and climbed in the passenger side of the car.

“She’s not coming out of this, Sarah,” Nicole spoke as her cousin climbed into the car.

“Is that what the doctor said?” Sarah asked, confused.

“No, but he didn’t give me much hope. They’re going to take the next week to measure the quality of life. Quality of life, Sarah!” Nicole said, rubbing her eyes with her hand. “This is too much.”

“Nicole, I know this probably isn’t what you want to hear, but I think you’re going to have to talk to the lawyer, really discuss what comes next. Just in case.”

“I know,” Nicole sighed, leaning her head against the window next to her.

  
A little later that day, Waverly entered the hospital and made her way to the front desk to inquire about Nicole’s mom’s location. She heard someone come up behind her, placing his hand on the counter next to her.

“Hey, Waverly,” Champ winked.

“Champ,” Waverly said plainly as she tried to move away from him.

“What are you doing here?” he asked. “Here to see Nicole? You just missed her.”

“I’m not, Champ. But thanks,” Waverly said.

“Unless you’re here to see me. In that case, I’m right here and you know, pretty available,” he winked.

“Yeah, I’m not here for that either,” she rolled her eyes as she started to walk down the hall, ignoring him.

Waverly made her way down the hallway and stopped at the door of the room that Nicole’s mom was in. She took a deep breath in and held it for a few seconds before letting it out slowly. Waverly slowly made her way into the room to see Nicole’s mom laying in the hospital bed, hooked up to a bunch of machines. Waverly took another deep breath in.

“Hey, Mrs. Haught,” Waverly said, softly, attempting to hold back her tears. “How’s it going?”  


**_1 year earlier_ **

_Waverly parked her jeep out front of Nicole’s mom’s house and hopped out of the driver’s seat, making her way to the front door. She lifted her hand to knock on the door as the door swung open, Nicole’s mom on the other side, smiling._

_“Waverly, dear, how are you?” she asked as she moved to the side for Waverly to enter her house._

_“I’m good,” Waverly smiled. “I’m sorry it’s been so long,” she apologized._

_“Oh, that’s okay, I’m sure you’ve been busy,” she smiled._

_“Hardly,” Waverly laughed. “How have you been?”_

_“I’ve been doing pretty well, I wish I could get that daughter of mine to come visit sometime, but, you know, she’s always traveling!” Mrs. Haught laughed. “You guys haven’t gotten back together yet, have you?”_

_Waverly laughed. “What? Oh, no,” she smiled softly. “I don’t think that’s going to happen.”_

_“Well, between you and me,” Mrs. Haught started. “You’re the best thing that she ever had.”_

_Waverly smiled. “Have you heard from her?”_

_“She calls me every week,” she smiled. “She’s been trying to get my on this video chat thing, but I can’t get the hang of it.”_

_“I can help you if you want,” Waverly laughed._

_“I just tell her I’d rather see her face in person,” she laughed._

_“I’m sure she will come around,” Waverly laughed. “How is she?” Waverly asked, skeptically. She didn’t want to pry._

_“Same old Nicky,” she sighed. “Tough exterior, soft heart,” she smiled._  


**_Present Day_ **

“I’m sorry that it’s been a while,” she sighed. “I know, I know, it’s okay. But it’s really not,” she continued. “I should have continued to visit you. It was the best part of my month,” she smiled.

“I had no idea anything even happened with you. I’m so sorry,” she took Mrs. Haught’s hand in her own as she sat in a chair next to the bed.

“I saw Nicole. She’s in pretty rough shape. I’m not sure if she’s been in today. But hey, she came home, right?” Waverly laughed slightly. “I wish I could have gotten her here sooner. I know you missed her. I missed her too.”

Waverly took a deep breath in, attempting to hold back her tears.

“I just wish I could help her, you know? I don’t think she wants my help anymore, but I can’t really blame her. I think she’ll be okay though, you know her,” Waverly said. “Tough exterior, soft heart,” she smiled softly, tears forming in her eyes.

Waverly sat in silence for 15 minutes, holding Nicole’s mother’s hand. She thought about the night before, her fight with Nicole. She thought about seeing Nicole in Shorty’s the other night, feeling a flood of emotions coming back to her. She was over Nicole, she thought, how could she still have feelings for her after all this time?

“She needs you,” Waverly finally spoke again. “You know you’re the only person that can really calm her down, make her think rationally. You’re her rock.”

_“You’re her rock, Waverly.”_ Waverly could hear Mrs. Haught’s voice in her head.

“It wasn’t me,” Waverly sighed. “You’ve always been her rock. I didn’t get her through the worst of times of her life like you did. I can’t fix it for her anymore.”

Tears began to run down Waverly’s cheeks.

“I didn’t get to her until you already had her put together. She’s as strong as she is because of you. I just kept reminding her of that. You gave her her soft heart, Mrs. Haught. As broken as she might be right now, she still has your heart. She’s just like you and she doesn’t even realize it yet.”

 

Nicole had asked her cousin to give her a ride across town a little later that day. Sarah pulled up next to the curb in front of the house. She asked if she wanted her to come with her and Nicole shook her head. The redhead got out of the car and slowly walked up the driveway toward the house. She took the three steps up to the front porch. Slowly forming a fist with her hand, she knocked three times on the door.

The door swung open and a shorter woman, around 40-years-old answered the door. A smile grew on the woman’s face.

“Nicky!” she called out.

“Is he here?” Nicole asked, sternly.

The woman nodded, and gestured for Nicole to come in. Nicole followed her into the house and into the living room where a tall, redheaded man was sitting on the couch.

“Nicky,” he said softly as he stood from where he was seated.

“Dad,” Nicole said, lacking emotion.

“How’s your mother?” he asked.

“I’m not here to talk about her,” Nicole told him.

Nicole’s father nodded and gestured for her to sit with him in the kitchen. Nicole took a seat at the table.

“Water?” he asked.

Nicole shook her head. Her father sat down at the table in front of her.

“So what’s on your mind, Nicky?” her father asked.

Nicole sat in silence at first, staring at her father, trying to form her words. “I used to idolize you,” she began. “You dreamed so big. You had so many goals, so many dreams and as far as I knew, they all included us. I admired you because you weren’t like all the other dads I ever saw.”

Nicole’s father sat in silence, listening to his only daughter speak.

“Then I grew up,” Nicole continued. “I grew up and I realized other dad’s weren’t like you because they followed through with things. They didn’t drown themselves in bottles of whiskey when times became tough. They didn’t cause their family to become homeless. They didn’t beat their wives. They sure as hell didn’t end up marrying their wife’s sister.”

“Nicole-” her father began to talk.

“I didn’t come here for an apology, Dad,” Nicole explained. “I came here to tell you that I’m done. I’m done being you. I’m done believing in you, because even if I say I haven’t for a long time, there was always a small piece of me that still did. That sliver of hope, you know? It’s what you always taught me. But it’s gone, there is no sliver of hope. I don’t need you and I don’t need your sons.”

“Your brothers-”

“They stopped being my brothers a long time ago,” Nicole assured him.

“They’re coming into town,” he told her.

“Tell them they need to stay away from the hospital,” Nicole said, sternly. “They have no business being there.”

“She’s their mother too, Nicky,” he told her.

“They don’t have any say in anything that happens with her,” Nicole explained. “I don’t need them sticking their greedy noses in mom’s business.”

“Let them at least see her,” he pleaded with her.

Nicole stood up from the table to leave. She turned to see her aunt standing in the doorway of the kitchen. Nicole looked down, now noticing her pregnant stomach. She glanced back at her father and shook her head.

“Cute,” she said, sarcastically. “Good luck with that. Maybe try not to fuck this one up,” she said as she left the house.

Once outside, Nicole let out a breath of air that had been building up in her lungs. She climbed into her cousin’s car that still had been parked outside the house.

“Thanks for waiting,” she said to Sarah. “Look, I’m sorry about last night.”

“Nicky, I get it,” Sarah said. “I’m not going to hold it against you.”

“You always take it easy on me,” Nicole laughed.

“Because I know the shit you’ve taken over the years,” Sarah told her. “Speaking of shit, how did that go?” she asked.

“Actually, it was kind of liberating,” Nicole told her as she leaned her head back on the seat, watching out the window as they drove back into town.

Sarah pulled into the parking lot of Shorty’s and Nicole lifted her head up, confused.

“What are we doing here?” Nicole asked.

“Oh, you’re apologizing,” Sarah smiled.

Nicole groaned and leaned her head back on the seat, sliding her sunglasses back onto her face. She sunk down in her seat.

“Yeah, get out,” Sarah said as she parked the car.

The pair got out of the car and walked into Shorty’s. Nicole scanned the bar to see Waverly behind the counter, wiping it down with a cloth. She made her way slowly over to the brunette. Waverly looked up at Nicole, quickly dropping her head back down, continuing to clean the counter.

“Waverly,” Nicole swallowed her pride. “Can we talk?” she asked softly.

Waverly gave her a frustrated look, which quickly turned sympathetic.

Samantha glanced up from cleaning table at the bar. “Everything good?” she asked Waverly.

Waverly smiled and nodded back at her coworker as she gestured for Nicole to follow her into the back storage room of the bar.

“Man, we spent a few good times back here,” Nicole joked, glancing over at Waverly.

Waverly glared back at Nicole.

“Sorry,” Nicole said, dropping her head slightly. “Hey, I just wanted to apologize for last night,” she  spoke softly and apologetically. “You didn’t deserve to be treated like that. You didn’t have to come try to help and you did anyway.”

“I was worried about you,” Waverly said, softly.

“I know,” Nicole sighed. “I had, uh, gotten a phone call from the hospital that they put my mom in a medically induced coma.”

“Wynonna told me,” Waverly admitted.

“She’s not doing well and..” Nicole began. She let out a breath and turned away from Waverly. “Neither am I,” she admitted.

“Hey,” Waverly said, placing her hand on Nicole’s shoulder.

Nicole turned around to face the brunette. “Sorry, it’s just a lot right now. Being back here, you know, under the circumstances. Seeing you,” she looked into Waverly’s eyes.

The pair stood in silence, looking into each other’s eyes for a minute before Nicole moved away from her.

“Uh, yeah, so…” Nicole said. “I’m really sorry, Waverly. I was a complete jackass. I was just pissed off and you got caught in the crossfire. I should never have let that happen.”

“Thank you,” Waverly said.

“Look, I didn’t really plan on this trip out here. And I didn’t know what it would be like to see you again. And man, was I not ready for what it feels like,” she laughed. “It’s hard to see how much you have it all together here and I feel like I’m just continuing to fall apart.”

“I get it. Don’t be so hard on yourself, I’m not as together as you think,” Waverly admitted. “Don’t worry about it though, Nicole. Water under the bridge. I’m not going to hold it against you.”

“It won’t happen again,” she gave her a dimpled smile.

“I appreciate that,” Waverly laughed. “Hey, I better get back out there,” she said. “But, I’ll see you around?”

Nicole smiled and nodded.

 

By the end of the week, Nicole had spent most of her time at the hospital with her mother. She hadn’t seen or heard from Waverly. She thought putting space between the two of them would probably be best. Her main focus was her mother, and she wanted to do what she could to take care of her.

She met with a lawyer in a few days earlier, finding out that her mother left everything to her. Nicole wasn’t sure what to do with the information. She knew it wasn’t going to make her brother’s happy when they found out. They hadn’t really spent much time in Nicole or her mother’s lives over the years. They sided more with her father and only came around when they needed something. Nicole found out from the lawyer that her mother had more to her name than she realized and did not expect for everything to be left to her.

Nicole met with the hospital staff when she arrived at the hospital. They informed her that there had still been no change in her mother’s brain activity and at this point, she was being mostly kept alive by the machine. They informed her that the ultimate decision would be up to her whether or not to keep her on life support.

Nicole was having a hard time grasping the idea of the possibility of removing her mother from life support. “It’s my choice?” she asked out loud to herself as the door swung open and two taller, redheaded men walked through the door.

“Queue the twins,” Nicole said to her brothers, rolling her eyes.

“Thought you could hide all of this from us?” David asked.

“Hide what, Dave?” Nicole asked, not in the mood to entertain his questions at all.

“You’re going to take all of mom’s belongings and let her die?” Michael asked.

Nicole sighed. “Yeah, you two need to leave,” she told them, shaking her head. “Why are you guys even here? Do you really care about what happens to mom?” Nicole asked.

“Why did you really come back here, Nicole? You looking to cash in on mom when she dies and make dad’s life more miserable?” David asked.

Nicole grew angry, looking back at him. “You don’t know what you’re talking about. This has nothing to do with dad.”

“We know that mom left everything to you,” Michael spat. “We also now know that it’s your decision about what happens to her.”

“So I take it you’ve spoken to the lawyers?” Nicole asked.

“No, we talked to dad,” he told her.

“What the hell does dad know?” she asked, frustrated.

“He knows a lot of people, Nicole. You know that,” David told her.

“Look, I’m not here about any money or anything mom plans to leave to me when she’s gone. I had no idea any of that was set up,” Nicole explained.

“Dad said that you and mom probably had something set up to screw us over,” Michael told her.

“Dad has nothing to do with mom anymore. He gets no say in anything that happens to her, that was his choice a long time ago when he made the decision to cheat on her.”

“You’re the reason mom left dad in the first place, Nicky! You threatened her!” David yelled.

“I didn’t threaten her, I gave her an ultimatum. I helped her, Dave, which is more than you two ever did,” Nicole huffed.

“Mom was nothing without dad!”

“Mom was everything without dad. She was a victim with him. Without him, she was a survivor. You two had no idea what mom went through with dad. You guys weren’t around then! It’s so easy to just walk away and act like nothing happened. You’re just like him.”

“Oh, poor Nicky, had to deal with mommy and daddy fighting,” Michael spat.

“You guys need to get out of here before I called the cops and have you removed,” Nicole warned them.

“Oh, because Randy Nedley, town sheriff, really scares us. Doesn’t his daughter hate you?” Michael asked.

“I’m not going to tell you again,” Nicole warned, pulling out her cell phone.

“Whatever Nicole, enjoy killing mom,” David huffed on his way out the door.


	7. Chapter 7

Nicole’s brothers stormed out of the hospital room and Nicole turned back toward her mother. She rubbed her face slowly with both hands, taking a deep breath in through her nose, attempting to release some of her anger that was building. She briefly held the breath in before releasing it slowly. 

“How the hell am I supposed to make this decision, Mom? It’s not supposed to be like this. You’re supposed to be here, like actually here. I know I’ve been an awful daughter. And I’m never going to not be sorry about that,” Nicole told her. 

Nicole sat down in a chair on the side of the bed, holding her mom's hand and started to sob. “Just come back,” she said through her tears.

“Nicole?” A soft voice came from the doorway.

Nicole looked up through her tears to see Waverly standing in the doorway.

“Waverly? What are you doing here?” Nicole asked.

“I came to see how she was. I’ve been stopping in every once in a while,” Waverly admitted.

“Really?”

“I care about her too, Nicole.”

“I know. I’m sorry, Waverly, I’m just having a hard time,” Nicole admitted, sounding defeated. 

“What’s going on?” Waverly asked as she entered the room, walking up next to Nicole. 

“I spoke with the nurse this afternoon. It’s my decision,” Nicole explained.

“What’s your decision?” Waverly asked.  

“Whether or not to keep her on life support any longer,” Nicole looked back toward her mother.

“Oh, Nicole…” Waverly instinctively placed her hand on Nicole’s shoulder. She felt the redhead sigh under her touch. 

“How do I do that? How do I kill my mother?” Nicole asked, looking up at Waverly.

“Nicole, you’re not killing her. If it’s to this point, keeping her alive on the machine isn’t what she would want either,” Waverly explained. 

“I know that. It’s just hard,” Nicole said, looking back at her mother. She wiped teared from her eyes. 

Waverly reached out for Nicole’s hand, holding it in her own. “Count with me,” she said softly.

“What?” Nicole asked, looking back up at Waverly, confused.

“Count with me,” Waverly repeated.

 

**_October, 2008_ **

_ It was a warm Saturday, in early October and Waverly’s friends had planned on going up to the lake for the day to swim. This was something they often did in the Summer, but since the weather was so nice, they decided to take advantage of it. _

_ “You didn’t seriously invite Nicole did you?” Rosita asked as the group got out of the car, taking their backpacks out and strapping them on their backs. _

_ “I seriously did,” Waverly informed her. “What’s the big deal? You allergic to hanging out with seniors?” she laughed. _

_ “Not if they were hot senior guys,” Rosita laughed. “But I mean, why her? She’s kinda wierd, Waves.” _

_ “Look, Rosita, she’s new here and I thought it would be nice for her to hang out with people,” Waverly explained. “And she’s nice. She came to my party and she was fun there!” _

_ “Yeah, you thought she was fun because you guys kissed in spin the bottle,” Rosita laughed. _

_ “No, because she’s a nice person. There’s nothing wrong with making new friends, Rosie,” Waverly told her. _

_ “Is that why you’ve been ditching us for her at lunch lately?” Rosita rolled her eyes. _

_ “I haven’t been ditching you. Nothing says I have to sit in one specific spot. It’s been nice out, sorry I like to be outside,” Waverly rolled her eyes. “You can always join us.” _

_ “Who cares who she invites? More girls for me to see in bikinis!” Champ winked as he walked past the two girls. _

_ “You’re disgusting, Champ,” Waverly huffed. _

_ “He’s cute, though, right?” Rosita asked. _

_ “I don’t know why you keep trying to get us together, Rosie,” Waverly laughed as she turned to see Nicole stepping out of her car. “Nicole! Hey!” Waverly walked away from Rosita and over toward Nicole. _

_ Rosita huffed and caught up to Champ, Pete and Jeremy. _

_ “Hey, Earp,” Nicole smiled as she swung a backpack over her shoulder. _

_ “I’m glad you made it!” Waverly said, cheerfully. _

_ After swimming in the lake, Champ had an idea to climb onto a nearby cliff and jump into the water below. This is something that Waverly always refused to do, but something in her, on this day, told her that she would be okay. Champ, Rosita and Pete had jumped off twice by the time Waverly made her way to the edge of the ledge. _

_ Nicole walked up to the ledge and looked down at the other teens below. Waverly stepped back from the ledge when she heard someone come up behind her. _

_ “Hey, it’s okay, I wouldn’t push you,” Nicole assured her. _

_ “I know, I just, I just need a minute,” Waverly sighed. _

_ “Mind if I go first?” Nicole asked. _

_ Waverly shook her head as she watched Nicole standing on the ledge. The sun was shining down on Nicole, causing her red hair to shine brighter than normal. Waverly’s eyes began to scan Nicole’s body. She wore a blue bikini top and a pair of board shorts. Waverly’s eyes became easily fixated on Nicole’s abs and her smooth, pale skin. Nicole turned to look at Waverly’s once more before she jumped. When she turned, Waverly’s eyes shot up to make eye contact with Nicole, her cheeks turning slightly red. Nicole smiled at Waverly, then turned to jump. _

_ Waverly took a deep breath and stepped forward to the edge of the ledge again, looking down into the water. She saw Nicole pop out of the water, shaking the water off of her face. _

_ “Come on, Waves!” Rosita called from the water. “It’s not that scary!” _

_ “I’m not sure what she’s talking about,” Jeremy laughed, nervously, as he walked up next to her. “That’s absolutely scary!” _

_ “Not helping, Jer,” Waverly said as she tried to calm her breathing. _

_ “Well, if you’re not going to jump, I’ll go!” Champ said as he returned to where Waverly was and walked up to the ledge. “Cannon ball!” Champ yelled as he jumped. _

_ Waverly backed off of the ledge, shaking her head at Champ. Nicole slowly walked up next to Waverly. _

_ “You okay?” she asked, softly. _

_ “Yeah, I’m fine, I’m just taking my time, you know?” Waverly said, unconvincingly. _

_ “It’s okay if you don’t want to,” Nicole told her. “Don’t worry about what those guys are saying.” _

_ “I do! I mean, I don’t know,” she sighed. “I’m not going to live it down if I don’t. It’s not that bad right?” _

_ “I don’t think so, but my not bad and your not bad might differ,” Nicole told her. _

_ “Not really helping, Nicole. You’re supposed to say, ‘No Waverly, it’s not bad at all!’ And convince me that I’m crazy.” _

_ Nicole laughed and smiled at the smaller girl. _

_ “Take my hand,” Nicole suggested as she reached her hand out. _

_ Without hesitation, Waverly grabbed her hand, tightly, and moved closer to the ledge again with Nicole.  _

_ “You okay?” Nicole asked again. _

_ Waverly nodded, squeezing her hand a little tighter.  _

_ “Count with me, 1, 2, 3. We’ll jump together, okay?” Nicole asked. _

_ Waverly looked up at Nicole. Nicole could see the fear in the brunette’s eyes. She smiled softly at her and felt Waverly relax a bit. _

_ “Only if you want,” Nicole assured her. _

_ Waverly took a deep breath in and let it out slowly. She then nodded at the taller girl. _

_ “You start the count,” Nicole told her. _

_ “1, 2, 3, and we’ll jump together?” Waverly asked for reassurance. _

_ “1, 2, 3, and we’ll jump together,” Nicole smiled. _

 

**_Present Day_ **

1, 2, 3,” Nicole smiled, squeezing Waverly’s hand.

“And we’ll jump together,” Waverly assured her. “You don’t have to do this alone, Nicole.”

Tears ran down Nicole’s face as Waverly pulled her into her embrace. Nicole rested her head on Waverly’ shoulder. The pair sat in silence for 15 minutes. Time seemed to stand still for a moment. Waverly leaned down slightly and kissed the top of Nicole’s head. Nicole glanced up at Waverly.

“Thank you,” she said as she sat back up.

There was a knock at the door and the nurse entered the room. “Sorry to interrupt,” she said as she picked up Nicole’s mom’s chart.

Waverly looked at the clock and stood up. “I have to get to Shorty’s,” she said, apologetically. “Can I come back after my shift? I’m not closing.”

“I don’t think I’m going to stay long tonight. I’ll probably head back to the hotel soon,” Nicole explained.

“I’ll call you as soon as I’m done?” Waverly asked. 

“You don’t have to, if you don’t want to, Waverly,” Nicole explained.

“I want to,” Waverly smiled.

 

Where have you been?” Wynonna asked, pointing a finger at her sister, as Waverly entered Shorty’s that night.

“What are you? The bar police?” Waverly laughed. “I was at the hospital.”

“The hospital?” Wynonna asked. 

“With Nicole,” Waverly told her. 

“With Nicole?”

“Are you going to stop doing that anytime soon?” Waverly laughed. 

“Are you going to explain yourself anytime soon?” Wynonna retorted. 

“Look, Wynonna, I’ve been stopping by to see her mom. She’s someone who’s been important to me too, regardless of my relationship with Nicole,” Waverly explained. 

“Hey, I’m not saying anything bad! I assumed you’d get back together,” her sister admitted. 

“We’re not back together, Wynonna! What are you even doing here?” Waverly asked, changing the subject. 

“It’s Friday night! When am I not here on a Friday night?” 

“I’ve been waiting to find out,” Waverly rolled her eyes.

“Hey you,” Samantha smiled as she stepped behind the bar.

“Hey,” Waverly smiled.

“I tried calling you earlier, is everything okay?” Samantha asked.

“Oh, yeah, sorry, I was at the hospital,” Waverly told her.

“With Nicole?” Samantha asked.

“She was there, but I didn’t know that she was going to be there. I was stopping by to check on her mom,” Waverly explained.

“Waverly, I get that you have a past. I’m not upset about it,” Samantha explained.

“I know, I’m sorry, I just have a lot going on in my head right now,” she explained.

“Do you still have feelings for her?” Samantha finally asked.

Waverly sighed. “Iwas waiting for that question,” she admitted. “I honestly don’t know the answer, Sam,” she explained. “I think part of me is always going to love her, but I’m not sure what that means right now.”

“Waverly, look, we agreed to take it one day at a time, right? No pressure on anything. I’m just glad you’re being honest with me.”

“I don’t want to do anything to hurt you, Sam, I really do like you,” Waverly told her.

“I really like you too,” Samantha smiled. “Would it be easier if we put a halt on things here until you figure out where your head is?” she asked. 

“I think that might be best,” Waverly admitted. “I’m sorry for all of this, Sam.” 

“Hey, really,” Samantha began. “You have nothing to be sorry about.”

“Can we still be friends?” Waverly asked. “I do like talking to you.” 

Samantha smiled and nodded. Waverly let out a sigh of relief. She never had any intentions of hurting anyone, but she knew it would be best to sort out her other emotions before developing a relationship with anyone new at the moment. 

 

After her shift, Waverly pulled her phone out to text Nicole.

_ Waverly (12:01 am): hey _

_ Nicole (12:02 am): hey, what’s up? _

_ Waverly (12:02 am): how are you? _

_ Nicole (12:04 am): I’m okay, I left the hospital a while ago. We’re going to discuss options tomorrow. _

_ Waverly (12:04 am): I’m done with my shift. Do you want to maybe come over? _

_ Nicole (12:05 am): can you pick me up? _

 

“Thanks for getting me, Waves, er, I mean-” Nicole stuttered as she climbed into the passenger seat of Waverly’s Jeep. 

“It’s okay,” Waverly said as she put her hand on Nicole’s.

The pair sat in silence for almost the rest of the car ride. Nicole let out a breath as they pulled into the homestead.

“You okay?” Waverly asked.

“Yeah, it’s just- been a while,” she replied.

Waverly nodded. She parked the car outside the house and led Nicole in through the front door. 

Nicole looked around the room. “Not much has changed,” she smiled. 

Waverly laughed. “Do you want something to drink?”

Nicole nodded. “Water?” she asked as she followed Waverly into the house. She sat down in the living room as Waverly disappeared into the kitchen, coming back with two glasses in her hands. 

“So did you hear anything different at the hospital?” Waverly asked, as she handed Nicole a drink and sat next to her on the couch. 

“They want a decision sooner than later. My brothers are being asses, I guess my mom left everything to me, which is more than we knew she had,” Nicole sighed. 

“Is that a bad thing?” Waverly asked.

“No, well, kind of. My brothers just want things out of her, they don’t really care what happens to her, or me. They were never even around for anything. They ran as soon as they could and they get mad that I influenced my mom to leave my dad.”

“Well at this point, it’s not up to them,” Waverly told her. 

“Exactly. I kicked them out earlier and threatened them if they come back,” Nicole laughed. “Thanks for inviting me over tonight, Waverly, the hotel has been kind of lonely since Sarah had to go back home.”

“Would you be able to stay at your mom’s house?” Waverly asked.

“I’m going to have to go over there at some point,” Nicole explained. “But it was too weird for me at first.”

“Well, if you need help making that jump, I can go with you,” Waverly smiled. 

“You’re being really nice to me,” Nicole smiled.

“Nicole, I-” Waverly started.

“Can we just enjoy this for now?” Nicole asked, leaning back on the couch. “It’s just been a long day and I don’t want to fight or relive anything right now. Is that okay?”

“That’s perfectly fine,” Waverly said, smiling at Nicole.

Waverly turned on the tv to a movie that was playing. The pair sat quietly, watching the movie together without talking. Waverly looked over at Nicole, who was focused on the movie. She took a deep breath in and slowly let it out. Her mind began to flood with memories of her relationship with Nicole. The good, the bad, all of it suddenly began to come back to her.

Waverly began to think of Samantha and the connection that they began to build together. She really did like spending time with her and was developing stronger feelings for her. But something in her has never been able to let Nicole go fully. She was finding these feelings a lot harder to mask while having her back in town


	8. Chapter 8

Nicole was falling asleep on the couch watching the movie. Waverly gently touched her arm. “Nicole?” She whispered.

Nicole shifted and opened her eyes. “Sorry,” she said guiltily.

“Don’t be,” Waverly told her.

“I feel like I haven’t slept in days,” Nicole explained.

“Why don’t you go lay down in my bed?” Waverly suggested.

“Are you sure? I can get a cab back to the hotel,” Nicole assured her.

“Nicole, this is Purgatory,” Waverly laughed causing Nicole to laugh as well. “Seriously, come on. You need to get rest,” Waverly pulled Nicole’s hand to get her off of the couch.

Nicole nodded and followed the brunette up the stairs. “I can take the floor, Waves-”

“Don’t be silly,” Waverly said as she pulled back the blanket, gesturing for Nicole to climb in.

“Thank you,” Nicole smiled as she laid down in the bed.

Waverly climbed in next to her and laid her head back on the pillow. “Do you remember the first time we spent the night together?”

“After the day at the lake,” Nicole remembered.   
  


**_October 2008_ **

_ “What was that gay shit?” Rosita asked Waverly as they headed toward the parking lot, referring to Nicole and Waverly jumping into the water together as they held hands. _

_ “Fuck off, Rosie. She was just being nice,” Waverly spat. _

_ “She’s weird, Waves.” _

_ “She’s nice, Rosie. She was trying to help me conquer my fear of jumping off the ledge. I did it, didn’t I?” Waverly asked, annoyed.  _

_ “I think she’s into you,” Rosita started.  _

_ “Here we go again,” Waverly rolled her eyes. _

_ “Look, Waves, if you’re gay, it’s fine but-” Rosita started.  _

_ “I think I’d tell you if I was gay!” Waverly cut her off.  _

_ “Well, whatever it is, I think you have a thing for her too,” Rosita told her.  _

_ “Rosita, Nicole is my friend. You’re my friend. We’re all friends!” Waverly assured her.  _

_ “Okay, but maybe you should know some of the stuff people are saying about her. I heard it’s true,” Rosita said.  _

_ “Maybe you should take time to get to know someone instead of listening to rumors,” Waverly rolled her eyes.  _

_ Waverly turned to walk away from Rosita. Nicole was walking up behind Rosita at that time. _

_ “I heard her dad’s a drunk and he burned down their house! They were homeless for two years!” Rosita called out after her. _

_ Waverly turned around to see Nicole stopping in her tracks before she made it to where the two other girls were. Nicole turned around to leave. _

_ “Nicole!” Waverly called after her. _

_ Nicole continued walking. Waverly started to jog, chasing after her. _

_ “Good one,” Waverly huffed as she ran past Rosita. _

_ “Hey! Nicole! Wait up!” Waverly called out to her.  _

_ “It’s okay, Waverly. You don’t have to apologize,” Nicole said. _

_ “Look, Nicole, I didn’t want to hear it from her, I was walking away. She can be a real ass,” Waverly tried to explain. _

_ Nicole stopped walking and turned back to see Waverly, an apologetic look on her face. _

_ “Please,” Waverly said softly. “I’m sorry about her. I don’t care what she says. I want to be your friend.” _

_ “Sure, whatever you want, Waverly,” Nicole said.  _

_ “Are you leaving?” Waverly asked.  _

_ “Yeah, it’s getting kind of late, my mom will probably be wondering where I am,” Nicole informed her.  _

_ “Can I come with you?” Waverly asked.  _

_ Nicole looked back at the younger girl. She was smiling softly back at her. Her eyes were still apologetic. Nicole was trying to read her. She felt that she was being genuine. She wanted to believe that not everyone was the same and it appeared that Waverly was going to be the person to do that. _

_ Nicole smiled and nodded back at Waverly. “Come on.” _

 

_ “Hey mom! I’m home!” Nicole called out as she and Waverly entered the house together. _

_ There was no answer. Waverly followed Nicole into the house. She looked around the house a little as Nicole continued to call out to her mom. When Nicole found her mother, she had an ice pack on her eye. Waverly could hear Nicole growing concerned and she walked up behind her, trying not to intrude.  _

_ “It’s not a black eye, I just bumped it. Who’s your friend?” Her mother asked, changing the subject and gesturing to Waverly, who was peering in through the doorway.   _

_ “Oh, sorry, mom, this is Waverly. I was going to see if it’s cool if she crashes here tonight, but clearly we have other things to deal with.” _

_ “There’s nothing to deal with, Nicole. Waverly, you’re more than welcome to stay,” her mom smiled at the brunette. _

_ “Thank you, Mrs. Haught,” Waverly smiled. _

_ “So are you going to tell me where he is?” Nicole returned to questioning her mother. _

_ “Nicole, do you want me to go hang out in your room while you guys talk?” Waverly asked. _

_ Nicole smiled softly at Waverly and nodded. “Second door on the left,” she gestured up the stairs. _

_ Waverly nodded. _

_ “Thank you,” Nicole mouthed to Waverly as she turned to go upstairs. _

_ Waverly made her way up the stairs of Nicole’s house and into her bedroom. She shut the door so she was unable to overhear the conversation between Nicole and her mother. While she was curious about what was going on, she did not want to invade Nicole’s privacy either. Waverly found herself wandering around Nicole’s room, looking at pictures that she had on a shelf. She then found herself gravitating to her bookshelf, skimming the books that she had on the shelf. _

_ Nicole slowly entered her bedroom to see Waverly looking at books on a bookshelf. “Hey I’m so sorry about that, thank you for giving me a second,” Nicole explained. _

_ “It’s okay. Is she okay?” Waverly asked, concerned, as she turned to make eye contact with Nicole. _

_ “She will be, it’s kind of complicated-” Nicole tried to explain. _

_ “You don’t have to tell me, Nicole,” Waverly said as she sat down on one of the two twin beds in the room.   _

_ Nicole took a seat on the bed next to her. Waverly set her hand lightly on Nicole’s thigh. Nicole breathed in, closing her eyes. _

_ “Are you okay?” Waverly asked. _

_ “Yeah,” Nicole whispered, eyes still closed. She placed her hand on top of Waverly’s as she opened her eyes. “Thank you.” _

_ “If you ever need to talk about it, you can talk to me, Nicole.” _

_ Nicole smiled and nodded at Waverly. “So, this isn’t exactly how I thought tonight would go.” _

_ “Oh, did you have expectations for tonight?” Waverly teased. _

_ “Well, I didn’t expect you’d meet my mom with a black eye,” Nicole chuckled as she dropped her head into her hands. _

_ “I understand family issues, Nicole. Trust me.” Waverly explained, placing her hand on Nicole’s shoulder. _

_ “It’s not a lie,” Nicole told her, lifting her head back up.  _

_ “What’s not?” Waverly asked. _

_ “The rumors about me. The stuff Rosita told you earlier.” _

_ “I don’t listen to the rumors, Nicole.” _

_ “But you’ve heard them and I’m sure you’ve questioned them. It’s human nature, Waverly.” _

_ Waverly looked down and away from Nicole. _

_ “Hey,” Nicole said, placing her hand on Waverly’s shoulder. “It’s okay.” _

_ “I’m sorry, Nicole. It’s not like I think any different of you,” Waverly explained.  _

_ “I know,” Nicole smiled. “Can I show you something?” _

_ Waverly nodded and she watched Nicole get up and walk over to her closet, pulling out a shoebox. Nicole placed the box on the bed and opened the top. She pulled out a stack of papers out of the box. _

_ “Paper kites,” Nicole said as she held up some of the papers. _

_ “Paper kites?” Waverly asked. _

_ “My relationship with my father has always been rocky,” Nicole began to explain as she sat down on the bed next to Waverly. “He’s got a lot of demons. He turns to booze to try to fix it, which obviously makes it worse. He burned our house down when I was 10.” _

_ Nicole slid back on the bed, leaning against the wall and pulling her knees to her chest. Waverly remained quiet and followed Nicole with her eyes. _

_ “They considered it an accident, but he was drunk. The fire spread so quickly. We all got out, but we pretty much lost everything. He blew most of the insurance money on gambling, so we spent the next few years hopping around. We weren’t necessarily homeless like people say, but we didn’t exactly have a home either.  One Summer we ‘traveled’ as my father put it. We visited some beaches, stayed under some boardwalks. Not all of it was bad. My father had his moments, you know?” _

_ Waverly nodded and leaned back against the wall next to Nicole. _

_ “I became fascinated with watching people fly kites on the beach that Summer. I always wanted one of those really fancy ones that some people had. My dad found some paper and string and we made some kites. We used sticks that we gathered from under the trees. It was one of the best memories I have of my father,” Nicole smiled. “I keep them as a reminder of when times were good. It helps me still see the little bit of humanity that’s left in my father.” _

_ “Thank you,” Waverly softly, turning her head against the wall to make eye contact with Nicole. _

_ “You won’t say anything about my mom to anyone, will you?” Nicole asked as she looked back at Waverly with a desperate look in her eyes. _

_ “You don’t have anything to worry about, Nicole, I promise,” Waverly looked at Nicole seriously. _

_ Nicole sighed slightly, continuing to look at Waverly. Her eyes began to read less of desperation and more of defeat. Waverly could tell this was not a new thing going on in Nicole’s life and she appeared to be exhausted by it. Waverly could feel her heart ache for her friend, who had clearly been going through a lot. She wanted to be able take the pain away for her. Something in her wanted to wrap her arms around Nicole, kiss her cheek and tell her everything was going to be okay. _

_ “Do you want to watch a movie?” Waverly asked, hoping it would distract her. _

_ “Sure,” Nicole smiled. _

_ Waverly walked over to a shelf of DVD’s in Nicole’s room and started too look through the collection. _

_ “Got anything good?” Waverly asked, continuing to comb through the dvds. _

_ “Of course I do!” Nicole said as she jumped up from the bed and made her way to the shelf. _

_ “You like scary movies?” Waverly asked, gestating at an entire section of horror films. _

_ “Some of them are classic!” Nicole told her.  _

_ “Well, unless you want me in your lap the whole time, we’re not watching those,” Waverly laughed. _

_ Nicole swallowed. “What about a comedy?” _

_ “Man, Haught, I thought maybe you’d jump on that opportunity,” Waverly nudged Nicole. _

_ Nicole laughed. “I didn’t think it was an actual offer.” _

_ “Loosen up, Nicole,” Waverly laughed as she pulled out a movie. “This one.” _

_ “So you like sports movies?” _

_ “Um, excuse me? ‘A League of Their Own’ is not just a sports movie. It’s an American classic!” She huffed as she handed the dvd to Nicole and made her way over to her bed. _

_ Nicole inserted the dvd and turned around to go to her bed. “You’re on my bed,” she laughed. _

_ “Oh, did you want me to lay on the other one?” Waverly asked, beginning to get up. _

_ “Oh, I, uh, I mean, it’s fine,” Nicole stuttered as she joined Waverly in the bed. _

 

**_Present Day_ **

“That was the first time I said any of that out loud to anyone,” Nicole said. She was now laying on her side, propped up on her elbow, facing Waverly.

“I don’t think I ever told you how much that meant to me,” Waverly told her. “I’m pretty sure you could have told me anything from that point on and you had me hooked,” she laughed.

Nicole smiled back at Waverly and laughed. “There was just something about you from the start that was easy to talk to, Waves. I feel like it’s still like that,” she told her.

“I should let you get some sleep,” Waverly said as she rolled over onto her back, staring up at the ceiling.

Nicole laughed softly, as she laid her head back on the pillow, still facing Waverly. “Thank you, again,” she smiled as she closed her eyes.

It didn’t take long for Nicole to fall asleep. Waverly smiled at her when she heard her breathing become steady and the sound of soft snoring began to fill the room. Waverly closed her eyes and smiled to herself as she drifted off to sleep.

 

**_December 2013_ **

_ “I think I want to teach in purgatory,” Waverly said, over the phone to her girlfriend.  _

_ “What about your dream?” Nicole asked, confused.  _

_ “My dream is to teach,” Waverly stated.  _

_ “You wanted to teach in third world countries,” Nicole reminded her.  _

_ “Dreams aren’t always feasible, Nicole,” Waverly explained.  _

_ “We were going to travel together,” Nicole said, softly.  _

_ “Nicole, I love you, but I was barely 17 when these plans were made. Sometimes things change!”  _

_ “Like us? We can still make it work, Waves,” Nicole said, desperately.  _

_ “How? I come to New York City and I’m still doing it for someone else,” Waverly explained.  _

_ “And staying in purgatory is 100 percent for you?” Nicole asked.  _

_ “Sometimes you need to make sacrifices. Who knows what will happen by the time I graduate.” _

_ “So no more of the dreams?” Nicole asked. _

_ “Maybe our dreams are beyond us, Nicole. And I don’t mean us as individuals, I mean us as us,” Waverly explained.  _

_ “What are you saying?” Nicole asked. _

_ “I want you to follow your dreams. You’re a beautiful dreamer, it’s always been one of my favorite things about you. You deserve everything great out of life,” Waverly said. _

_ “My dreams include you now, Waverly.” _

_ “I know, Nicole. But I can’t let you stop them for me.” _

_ “Who says that’s what will happen?” Nicole asked.  _

_ “Because I know you. You’d give up anything for me, Nicole.” _

_ “Waverly, I don’t want any of it without you.” _

_ “But you wanted it before me,” Waverly told her. _

“ _ So that’s it? There’s no chance we’re going to make it anymore?” Nicole asked.  _

_ “Nicole-” _

_ “Is this really all about me, Waverly? Is there something you’re not telling me?” Nicole began to speculate.  _

_ “Nicole, you’re all I’ve ever known. I feel so hard and easily in love with you and I’m forever grateful you that,” Waverly explained. _

_ “But?” Nicole asked.  _

_ “But I feel like I’m just now coming into my own, you know? Learning what I need and what I want,” Waverly told her.  _

_ “And it doesn’t include me.” _

_ “I’m not trying to hurt you, Nicole, I’m trying to be honest. I’m not saying you’re not my forever, but maybe I need to figure out what my right now is. I’m becoming more comfortable with myself, putting myself out there.” _

_ “Did you meet someone new?” Nicole asked, frustrated. _

_ “That’s not what this is about,” Waverly told her.  _

_ “So that’s a yes?” _

_ “No, that’s not a yes. This isn’t about anyone else, it’s about my needs and wants right now and I’m still trying to figure out what that is,” Waverly explained.  _

_ “Okay, well have fun, Waverly, enjoy figuring that out. Hope you have a happy life.” _

_ “Nicole.”  _

_ “What?”  _

_ “I do love you,” Waverly told her.  _

_ “No. Stop. You don’t get to smash my heart and then tell me you love me. You want what you want, Waverly, I can’t change that apparently, but that’s not fair!”  _

_ “I’m sorry,” Waverly said, softly. _

_ “I hope you find the love you deserve someday,” Nicole told her, before hanging up the phone.  _

 

**_Present Day_ **

Nicole woke up a few hours later and looked next to her to see Waverly sound asleep. She rubbed her eyes and looked at the clock, noticing at it was 4:07am. Nicole sighed and slowly rolled out of bed and made her way down the stairs and into the kitchen. She noticed a bottle of whiskey on the counter and poured herself a glass. Sitting down on the couch in the living room, Nicole glanced down at the glass in her hand. She put it close to her face and took a deep breath in, then set the glass on the table in front of her.   
  


**_December 2013, 2 days after the breakup_ **

_ Nicole stood up from the bed, grabbing her shirt from the floor. _

_ “Can I use your bathroom?” she asked, looking back at the woman still in the bed. _

_ The woman nodded and Nicole made her way across the room and into the hallway. As she entered the bathroom, she looked at herself in the mirror. Her eyes were bloodshot, which she felt was a combination between the lack of sleep and excessive amount of whiskey in her system. Turning on the cold water, she cupped her hands and splashed some water on her face. _

_ After leaving the bathroom, Nicole could hear the woman talking out loud in the bedroom. As she made her way into the room, she realized she was on the phone. _

_ “Hey, I accidentally answered your phone,” the woman said to Nicole. _

_ Nicole laughed and took the phone from the woman. Without looking to see who was on the other line, she put the phone up to ear. “Hello?” she said as she took the phone. _

_ “Really cute, Nicole,” Waverly spat. _

_ “What? Waves?” Nicole’s stomach dropped. _

_ “We broke up two days ago.” _

_ “Okay?” Nicole asked. “Are you calling to remind me of that?” _

_ “Who’s answering your phone?” Waverly asked. _

_ “Sorry, she didn’t realize it was mine. Honest mistake,” Nicole told her. _

_ “Yeah, I guess that happens when you’re busy banging her right?” Waverly asked, growing more annoyed. _

_ “Way to make assumptions,” Nicole tried to defend herself. _

_ “Tell me that’s not what it is then,” Waverly said. _

_ “Waverly, can we not do this?” Nicole asked. _

_ “Tell me it’s not true.” _

_ “You know the answer to that already,” Nicole sighed, as she stepped into the hallway to finish her conversation.  _

_ “I see how much I meant to you!” Waverly spat.  _

_ “What? No! You don’t get to do that! You broke up with me! You don’t get a say anymore!” Nicole began to grow frustrated.   _

_ “But I respect you more than getting under someone the day after we broke up!” _

_ “It’s been 2 days,” Nicole reminded her.  _

_ “Not the point.” _

_ “Listen, Waverly, you can be mad, but just remember, this was your decision,” Nicole told her. _

_ “Fuck you, Nicole! Enjoy your random hookup!” _

_ Nicole looked down at her phone and walked back into the bedroom.  _

_ She turned to the girl she was with. “Hey, I gotta go,” Nicole said softly. _

_ “Is everything okay? I’m sorry I answered your phone.” _

_ It’s cool, don’t worry about it. Everything’s fine. I’ll see you,” Nicole told her as she left the room again.  _

_ Nicole left the brownstone and headed out into the cold, New York air. She looked up toward the sky and took a deep breath in of fresh air. _

_ When she returned home to her apartment, she poured herself a glass of whiskey and took a large gulp of it. Frustrated, she took her shoe off and threw it across the room, hitting a bookshelf on the other side of the room. The bookshelf shook and knocked a box off of a higher shelf, spreading its contents all over the floor. _

_ “Fuck,” Nicole sighed as she made her way across the room to clean up the mess. _

_ She squatted down to grab the box and set it on a nearby end table. The contents of the box were scattered across the floor. Pictures of her and Waverly, random momentos from adventures that they had throughout the years. There was a small box on the floor, partially under the couch. Nicole sighed as she picked it up off the floor and sat down on the couch. She took another swig of whiskey and flipped the small box open to reveal a small, engagement ring. _

 

**_Present Day_ **

Nicole continued to stare at the glass of whiskey in front of her on the table. She heard footsteps coming down the stairs and she looked up to see Waverly.

“Nicole?” Waverly asked.

“Hey, sorry, I woke up and I was just...thinking,” Nicole explained, standing up from the couch.

Waverly looked down at the glass on the table.

“I didn’t drink it,” Nicole assured her.

“It’s okay,” Waverly told her.

“It’s not,” Nicole stated. “I’m not my father.”

“I know you’re not, Nicole.”

“Why does he get to be okay through all of this?” Nicole asked, growing frustrated. “Did you know that his wife is pregnant? He married my aunt and got her pregnant, How messed up is that?”

Waverly gave Nicole an understanding and sympathetic look.

“And my mom is laying in the hospital, in a coma. She doesn’t deserve any of it. She had a second chance when she left him and this is her second chance?” She sighed. 

“I’m sorry, Nicole,” Waverly said, softly.

Nicole dropped her head into her hands. Waverly moved closer to the redhead, placing a hand on her shoulder. Nicole reached up with one of her hands and placed it on top of Waverly’s hand.

“Do you want to go lay back down?” Waverly asked.

Nicole looked up and nodded. She stood up from the couch and followed Waverly back up the stairs

“I’m sorry, Waverly. You really don’t have to take care of me,” Nicole started.

“I don’t think of it as taking care of you, Nicole. I think of it as just being here when you need it the most.”

“You’ve always been good at that,” Nicole smiled at her.

Nicole laid back down in the bed. “I’m sorry if I scared you,” she explained.

“Don’t worry about it,” Waverly said as she laid down next to Nicole.

Nicole laid on her side, facing Waverly. Waverly rolled toward Nicole and looked into her eyes. Nicole placed her hand briefly on Waverly’s side before moving it back onto her own.

“Sorry,” Nicole said quickly.

“It’s okay,” Waverly told her as she took her hand in her own.

Waverly lifted their hands slightly above them, gently playing with Nicole’s fingers, as she continued to look back at the redhead. The room remained silent and Waverly began to find herself lost in Nicole’s eyes. Something in her was having difficulty remembering what pulled the pair apart in the first place. It seemed much easier to feel less when Nicole was in New York. She continued to look into her eyes. She could could almost feel the pain and sadness behind them.

Nicole looked back at Waverly. She remained quiet and slightly glanced up at her fingers that were intertwined with Waverly’s. Her breathing began to slow as she relaxed in the moment she was sharing with the brunette. Even while she was breaking, she still thought about how it had been years since she had felt this whole.

Waverly disconnected her fingers with Nicole’s and placed her hand gently on Nicole’s cheek. She felt Nicole take a deep breath in and hold it for a few seconds, before letting it out. Nicole slid her hand around Waverly’s side, landing it on her lower back. She softly stroked Waverly’s bare skin on her back with her thumb. Waverly slowly leaned in and connected her lips with Nicole’s.

Nicole took a sharp breath in as she felt Waverly’s lips on her own. She wasn’t sure if she should reciprocate the kiss but instinct took over and she felt herself kissing Waverly back. The kiss grew more passionate and Nicole slid her body closer to Waverly, leaving little space in between them.

Nicole suddenly pulled away from Waverly. “I’m sorry,” she said quickly as she rolled over onto her back.

“Hey, hey,” Waverly started. “You don’t have to be sorry, that was my fault.”

“I’m not mad about it,” Nicole assured her. “I-” Nicole rolled over and leaned back in, connecting her lips with Waverly’s again. 

The pair continued to kiss, pulling their bodies closer, leaving less and less space in between them. Waverly rolled over on top of Nicole. Sitting up, she removed her shirt before leaning back down to reconnect her lips with Nicole’s.


	9. Chapter 9

“Waves,” Nicole breathed, pulling away from Waverly’s mouth momentarily. 

“Yeah?” Waverly asked, continuing to lay kisses down Nicole’s neck.  ****  
** **

“Wait, wait, wait,” Nicole said softly.  ****  
** **

“Sorry,” Waverly said, slightly blushing, climbing off of Nicole and laying next to her.  ****  
** **

“No, don’t be sorry,” Nicole said, rolling over into her side to face the brunette. She instinctively draped her arm over Waverly’s torso, rubbing her bare skin softly with her thumb. “I just needed a second.”  ****  
** **

Waverly nodded and laid quietly, looking back at the redhead. Nicole continued to lightly rub circles on the brunette’s skin.  ****  
** **

“You keep doing that and I won’t be able to control myself,” Waverly winked and glanced down at Nicole’s hand.  ****  
** **

“This?” Nicole said as she slid her hand to the edge of the waistband of Waverly’s, fingers dancing lightly across her skin.  ****  
** **

Waverly slightly lifted her hips into Nicole’s hand. “Mm,” she said, looking back up at Nicole.  ****  
** **

Nicole sighed and leaned down, reconnecting her lips with Waverly’s. The kiss deepened and Nicole moved her hand behind Waverly, pulling their bodies closer. Waverly slid her hand up Nicole’s shirt, causing goose bumps to form on her skin. Nicole slid her hand around Waverly’s waistband and moved slowly into her pants. Waverly reached down, sliding her pants off in one swift motion, leaving her bare skin against Nicole’s body.  ****  
** **

Lips still connected, Waverly climbed back on top of Nicole, legs straddling the redhead. She helped Nicole remove her shirt and leaned down, laying kisses on Nicole’s bare chest.  ****  
** **

“Waverly,” Nicole moaned, reaching down between the brunette’s legs to feel how wet she was. ****  
** **

“Fuck!” Waverly let out a sharp breath at the feeling, allowing Nicole to continue rubbing circles momentarily before she started to lay kisses down the redhead’s torso, stopping at her waistband. Waverly looked up at Nicole asking for permission to remove the redhead’s pants. Nicole nodded and watched as Waverly slid her pants down her legs and immediately began laying kisses down her lower abs to her inner thighs.  ****  
** **

“Mm, Waves,” Nicole moaned. ****  
** **

Waverly smiled up at Nicole and slowly started to slide her fingers between Nicole’s legs, continuing to lay light kisses on her inner thighs. Nicole took a sharp breath in at the feeling of the brunette’s fingers touching her. Waverly moved her mouth hovering over Nicole momentarily, then began to lick long strokes with her tongue. ****  
** **

“Fuck, Waves,” Nicole moaned, involuntarily pushing her hips slightly upwards at the feeling.  ****  
** **

Waverly’s strokes with her tongue became smaller and more concentrated on one spot while she slowly slid two fingers inside Nicole, beginning to pump them in and out slowly at first, becoming faster in time. Nicole’s breathing began to increase as time continued, causing Waverly to pick up the pace.  ****  
** **

“Mm, Waves!” Nicole let out a much louder moan this time as she became closer to orgasm. “I’m so close,” she breathed. 

Waverly looked up, making eye contact with the redhead as she continued her motions down below. As Nicole reached orgasm, Waverly felt her body tense, then relax on the bed in front of her. She slowly removed her fingers from Nicole and laid soft kisses up her body until she reached her lips. Nicole sighed into the kiss. Waverly felt a smile form on Nicole’s lips as they continued to kiss. After a moment, Nicole flipped the pair so she was now on top of Waverly. She hovered slightly over the brunette’s body, before beginning to lay  kisses down her neck. ****  
** **

 

“So, I slept with Nicole,” Waverly said, nonchalantly the next morning at breakfast with Rosita and Jeremy, as she took a sip from her coffee. ****  
** **

“Wait, what?” Jeremy asked, surprised, practically choking on his food.  ****  
** **

“Are you serious, Waverly? What the hell!” Rosita yelled. ****  
** **

“Relax, Rosie, it’s fine,” Waverly told her. ****  
** **

“Come on, Waves, think about what you went through before with her!” Rosita protested.  ****  
** **

“Rosita, let’s be real here, you never liked Nicole in the first place!” Waverly told her.  ****  
** **

“That’s not true, Waverly, and you know it. I’m just not going to sit here and let anyone run you over again,” Rosita told her.  ****  
** **

“She didn’t run me over, Rosie!” Waverly said. ****  
** **

“Waverly, when she wasn’t here, when she left, who was here to pick up the pieces?” Rosita spat. “Me. I was and Jeremy was. So she can’t just sweep in here and try to pick up where she left off. She can’t make everything better like some super hero!” ****  
** **

“It was my fault, Rosita!” Waverly finally yelled. ****  
** **

“What?” she asked, more softly this time.  ****  
** **

“I broke up with Nicole,” Waverly told her. ****  
** **

“You what? You said she broke your heart,” Rosita said, confused.  ****  
** **

“I told you my heart was broken, but I never told you that she broke up with me,” Waverly explained. “But it was me. I’m the one who broke up with her.” ****  
** **

“I thought she cheated on you?” Jeremy asked. ****  
** **

“She didn’t cheat on me, she slept with someone after I broke up with her. I was pissed because I felt betrayed like I meant nothing to her if she could move on that fast. But it was my decision to break up with her. I was trying to figure out who I was and I didn’t want anything or anyone to influence that,” Waverly explained.  ****  
** **

“Then what are you doing with Samantha if you’re not over Nicole?” Rosita asked.  ****  
** **

“I thought I was over her, Rosie. I was happy with the way things were going. Do you think I planned this? I planned for her mom to get sick? For her to come back here like this?” Waverly asked, frustrated.  ****  
** **

“Waverly, I’m going to ask you something, and I don’t want you to take offense to it, because I don’t mean it that way,” Rosita told her.  ****  
** **

“Okay,” Waverly said, unsure what was about to come next.  ****  
** **

“Do you think you’re only feeling this way because you feel bad for what’s going on with her mom?” Rosita asked, honestly.  ****  
** **

Waverly stopped and looked back at her friend. She wasn’t upset by the question that she had asked. She knew it wasn’t an accusation, but more of something that could be true. Waverly let out a sigh before she spoke. ****  
** **

“Guys, Nicole has always been my epic love story, you know? I feel like we’re destined for each other no matter what,” Waverly explained. ****  
** **

“So you could never see yourself moving on with someone else?” Rosita asked. “Not even Samantha?” ****  
** **

“I like Samantha, I mean, I…” Waverly began to stutter. “I don’t know,” she sighed. “I don’t want to hurt her, I don’t want to hurt either of them. Samantha and I aren’t really anything right now, I asked for time.” ****  
** **

“Well, word of advice,” Jeremy started. “You can’t have both of them.” ****  
** **

“Well, I know that, Jer,” Waverly rolled her eyes. ****  
** **

“So what does Nicole think is going on between you guys now?” Rosita asked. ****  
** **

“I don’t know, we didn’t talk about it. I woke up and she was gone,” Waverly explained. ****  
** **

“Well, that’s a comforting sign,” Rosita said, sarcastically as she took a sip of coffee. ****  
** **

“Shut up, Rosita, she needed to be at the hospital this morning, I’m sure that’s where she is,” Waverly rolled her eyes at her friend. ****  
** **

“I just don’t get how you guys even fell back into bed with each other in the first place,” Rosita told her. “She’s been here for a little over a week and you’ve barely said a word about it. At least not to me.” ****  
** **

“I’ve been trying to keep busy and ignore it. But it’s difficult to ignore someone when you still have feelings for them. And I’ve been stopping in the hospital to see her mom. She’s someone I was close with too, Rosie. I dated Nicole for 5 years,” Waverly explained.  ****  
** **

“I get that, so you go see her mom and fall into bed with her?” Rosita asked, trying to put the pieces together. ****  
** **

Waverly laughed. “Well not exactly. It just kind of...happened.” ****  
** **

“Did she feed you some sob story to get you into bed with her?” Rosita asked. ****  
** **

“Did she tell you that she was going to propose before you guys broke up?” Jeremy asked. ****  
** **

Rosita suddenly stomped on Jeremy’s foot, giving him an angry look. ****  
** **

“Ow! Come on, Rosie!” Jeremy yelled.  ****  
** **

“You need to learn to shut your mouth, Chetri,” Rosita warned.  ****  
** **

“Wait, what?” Waverly asked, surprised. ****  
** **

Rosita shook her head at Jeremy.  ****  
** **

“You guys knew she wanted to marry me?” Waverly asked. Why didn’t you guys say anything?”  ****  
** **

“You guys broke up, Waves, would it have made things different?” Rosita asked.

“How did you know she was planning to propose?” Waverly asked.  ****  
** **

“She came to us when she was home for Thanksgiving,” Jeremy explained.

****

**_November 2013_ **

_ Nicole entered Shorty’s in the early afternoon, glancing around the bar, spotting Jeremy and Rosita in a booth together. She looked nervous, but also excited. She walked up to the pair and slid into the bench on the other side of the table.  _ ****  
** **

_ “Hey guys, thanks for meeting me,” she said as she sat down.  _ ****  
** **

_ “What’s up, Nicole?” Jeremy asked. _ ****  
** **

_ “So I have something to run by you guys,” Nicole started. _ ****  
** **

_ “Okay…” Rosita responded, confused. _ ****  
** **

_ Nicole reached into her pocket and pulled out a small box. She opened it to show the pair a ring. Rosita and Jeremy’s eyes widened as they looked down at the ring. _ ****  
** **

_ “So I want to ask Waverly to marry me,” she stated. _ ****  
** **

_ “What, when?!” Jeremy asked excited. _ ****  
** **

_ “I think when I come back for Christmas,” Nicole smiled. “Do you think she’ll like it?” _ ****  
** **

_ “I think she’ll love it,” Rosita smiled, softly.  _ ****  
** **

_ “So you guys are cool with this? You’re like family to her and I wanted to make sure I had your permission before I asked too. You guys mean a lot to me too.” _ ****  
** **

_ “I’m cool with it!” Jeremy smiled. _ ****  
** **

_ “Me too,” Rosita told her. “I know we haven’t always seen eye to eye, Nicole, but you’re good for her. I’ll admit it,” she winked. _ ****  
** **

_ “Thanks, Rosita. You don’t know how much that means to me,” Nicole smiled, looking back down at the ring in the box. _

****

**_Present Day_ **

“Thanks for the ride, Wynonna,” Nicole said as she looked over at Wynonna, who was driving her truck toward the hospital. ****  
** **

“No problem, Haught,” Wynonna assured her. “So are you going to tell me why you spent the night last night? And maybe why there was a perfectly good glass of whiskey on the coffee table this morning?” she asked. ****  
** **

“Sorry about the whiskey,” Nicole said. “I’ll buy you another bottle.” ****  
** **

“It’s fine, Red,” Wynonna laughed. “I’m more curious about you shacking up with my sister,” she winked. ****  
** **

“I don’t really want to talk about it,” Nicole sighed.  ****  
** **

“Oh, come on!” Wynonna whined.  ****  
** **

“It’s too early and I haven’t had coffee yet,” Nicole laughed. ****  
** **

“So later?” Wynonna asked. ****  
** **

“There’s nothing to tell, Wynonna!” Nicole laughed. “Your sister was just being nice and letting me stay over so I wasn’t alone. It was a long day and she was just being there for me.” ****  
** **

“Well shit, Haught, if that was her just being nice, I can’t imagine what it’s like when she actually wants you,” Wynonna winked.  ****  
** **

Nicole’s eyes widen as she turned to look at Wynonna. ****  
** **

“Thin walls,” Wynonna laughed, shaking her head. ****  
** **

Nicole groaned and leaned her head back on the seat. Wynonna pulled the truck into the parking lot of the hospital. ****  
** **

“Do you want me to come in?” she asked, turning to Nicole.  ****  
** **

“It’s okay, I just need to take care of some things with the nurses,” Nicole explained. ****  
** **

“How about I wait?” Wynonna asked. ****  
** **

Nicole smiled and nodded at Wynonna. “Thank you,” she said.

****

After taking care of what she needed to at the hospital, Wynonna drove her back to the homestead. Nicole figured she and Waverly should probably discuss what happened the night before, even if she would rather not have the conversation, afraid that it might not end as happy as the night did. It wasn’t that Nicole didn’t want to spend time with Waverly, she was just afraid they would fall into more heartbreak than she could handle at the moment. ****  
** **

“You were going to propose to me, Nicole?” Waverly asked as Nicole entered her room. ****  
** **

Nicole looked shocked at  first, unsure of what to say. She just looked back at Waverly, without speaking. ****  
** **

“Why didn’t you say anything?” Waverly asked. ****  
** **

“What was I supposed to do, Waverly? You were breaking up with me. Should I have said, ‘wait, stop, I bought a ring?’ How well would that have gone over?” Nicole asked. ****  
** **

“Nicole-” Waverly started.  ****  
** **

“You were it for me, Waverly. You were all I needed. But you had things to figure out, I needed to respect that,” Nicole said, softly. ****  
** **

“You ended up sleeping with someone two days after we broke up, Nicole! Two days! How is that something you do when you wanted to marry me?!” Waverly asked, annoyed. ****  
** **

“I was hurt, Waverly. You broke my heart, is that what you want to hear?” Nicole asked, softly as she sat down on the edge of Waverly’s bed. ****  
** **

“No,” Waverly said softly. ****  
** **

“Waves, I don’t know what you want from me,” Nicole said. “It’s been 5 years since I’ve seen you and you’re still the only person I want in this entire world. If I had it my way, I would avoid this place for the rest of my life, rather than feeling how I do knowing that you and I are never going to have what we did.” ****  
** **

“I’m sorry, Nicole,” Waverly said, sitting down on the bed next to the redhead. ****  
** **

“I’m not looking for an apology, Waves, I understand. I just didn’t think bringing up the ring was going to fix things and I didn’t need the pity if it did. I feel like I’ve been getting enough of that lately anyway,” Nicole explained. ****  
** **

“I’m not pitying you, Nicole,” Waverly told her.  ****  
** **

“I know, I didn’t really mean you,” Nicole assured her. “Everywhere I go I get the ‘oh poor Nicole’ look, you know? It’s bad enough the entire town knows how messed up my childhood was, let’s add a mother on life support to the mix. And maybe brothers who only care because they’re not getting mom’s money. And what about an ex that clearly can move on without me while I feel sorry for myself out in New York City, trying to figure out how to live life without her?” ****  
** **

“Nicole-” ****  
** **

“I know you’ve been dating the bartender, Waves,” Nicole told her. ****  
** **

“We’re not dating,” Waverly explained. “We went on some dates, but we haven’t made anything official,” Waverly explained. “I don’t know what I want out of that yet.” ****  
** **

“Well I suggest you be honest with her,” Nicole said. “I’ve seen the way she looks at you.” ****  
** **

“I have been,” Waverly admitted. “I told her I needed space to figure out my feelings for you.” ****  
** **

“Is that why it was okay for you to sleep with me last night?” Nicole asked. ****  
** **

“Any there it is-” Waverly sighed as she threw her hands in the air in frustration, standing up from the bed.  ****  
** **

“There what is?” Nicole asked. ****  
** **

“I’ve been waiting for this to somehow be twisted to be my fault,” Waverly explained, as she slowly began to pace. ****  
** **

“That’s not what I mean, Waverly. I-” Nicole began. ****  
** **

“You, what, Nicole?” Waverly asked, frustrated. She stopped to face Nicole. ****  
** **

“I’m not going to force you to do anything, Waverly. If you want to date someone else, if that’s what makes you happy, that’s what you should do,” Nicole told her. ****  
** **

“Can I ask you something? And I want you to be completely honest with me,” Waverly said. ****  
** **

Nicole sighed and nodded. ****  
** **

“If you could tell me exactly what you think right now, exactly what you feel, about us, about me. If you could say anything right now, what would it be? Don’t worry about trying to influence me or beg me or anything like that. I need to know what’s in your head, Nicole,” Waverly explained. “I promise you, nothing you say right now will be held against you.” ****  
** **

Nicole sighed. “We slept together last night and it was the realest I have felt in years. It made me want to do it again and again because nothing else feels that right. I look for people to fill voids and nothing comes close to filling the empty space that was left in me without you. I’m also afraid. I’m afraid that we’re different people than we were 5 years ago and maybe we take this leap and it doesn’t work because we’re too different,” she explained. ****  
** **

Waverly quietly nodded her head. ****  
** **

“I also have to take my mother off life support and basically watch her die,” Nicole continued. “So I’m having a hard time with that. But something about seeing you has made this entire process incredibly easier, regardless of what I still mean to you.” ****  
** **

“What time?” Waverly asked. ****  
** **

“What time what?” Nicole asked, confused. ****  
** **

“What time are they taking her off life support?” Waverly asked. ****  
** **

“Tonight, 8pm,” Nicole sighed. ****  
** **

“I’ll be there, okay?” Waverly asked. ****  
** **

“You really don’t have to, Waves,” Nicole told her, her face read sheer exhaustion. ****  
** **

“I’ll be there,” Waverly assured her. “We’ll jump together,” she reminded her. ****  
** **

Nicole nodded and looked into Waverly’s eyes. Tears began to form in Nicole’s eyes and she was too exhausted to stop them. Tears began to slowly stream down her face as she dropped onto her back on the bed. **  
**


	10. Chapter 10

Nicole stood next to her mother’s bed, holding her hand and looking down at her.

“I’m sorry, mom,” Nicole said softly.

A single tear rolled down her cheek. Waverly entered the room quietly and walked up to Nicole. Without saying a word, she took Nicole’s other hand in hers. Nicole squeezed her hand a little tighter and more tears began to fall. The pair stood in silence until the heart rate monitor became a straight line and the nurse called time of death on Nicole’s mother.

“Time of death, 9:47 pm,” the nurse said as they marked it down in her chart.

Nicole let go of the grasp that she had on Waverly’s hand and walked slowly out of the room. As she left the room, she turned down the hallway and leaned up against the wall. She took a deep breath in and let out a sob, dropping her head into her hands. She felt her body begin to collapse underneath her as she slid down the wall, sitting on the floor with her knees pulled tight to her chest. Nicole continued to sob into her hands that were covering her face.

Waverly appeared in the doorway of the hospital room and looked down the hall to see Nicole sitting on the floor, head in her hands, knees to her chest. She slowly made her way over to the redhead and placed her hand gently on her shoulder.

Nicole looked up at Waverly and without words, the brunette put her hand out for her to take it. Nicole took the offer and stood up. The pair made their way out to Waverly’s jeep. Waverly opened the door for Nicole and gestured for her to get in. Nicole slid into the the seat of the jeep. Waverly closed the door and made her way to the driver seat.

The pair remained in silence on the drive from the hospital to the homestead. Nicole leaned her head on the cold glass of the window, watching the world go by as they drove.

 

As they entered the house, Waverly helped Nicole up the stairs and into her bedroom. The redhead sat down on the bed and looked down at the floor.

“Hey, I’m going to go talk to Wynonna for a second,” Waverly explained. “Do you need anything?” she asked.

Nicole looked up at Waverly and shook her head.

“Hey, Wynonna, Nicole’s going to stay here tonight,” Waverly explained, as she made her way into the living room.

“How is she?” Wynonna asked, sympathetically.

“Not great. I didn’t want her to have to be alone tonight. Sarah can’t be back until tomorrow,” Waverly explained.

“That’s fine, Waves, where is she?” Wynonna asked.

“My room.”

“Can I?” Wynonna asked as she stood up and headed for the stairs.

Waverly nodded as she watched Wynonna make her way up the stairs.

Wynonna knocked softly on the door that was partially open. There was no answer and she slowly opened the door to see Nicole standing in front of the mirror, looking back at her reflection.

“Hey, Haught stuff,” Wynonna spoke softly as she entered the room.

Nicole turned around and gave her a half smile.

“Hey, I’m sorry, Nicole,” Wynonna started.

“You called me Nicole,” she finally spoke.

“I have my moments of being sentimental,” Wynonna winked. “I’d ask how you are, but I can imagine that’s a stupid question.”

“I’m okay,” Nicole stated. “Actually, I’m not, Wynonna. I’m not okay.” Nicole shook her head at the brunette.

Wynonna walked up to Nicole and placed a hand on her shoulder. “Hey, it’s okay to not be okay, Nicole.”

Nicole nodded. “I just don’t know where to go from here, Wynonna. I feel like I’ve been broken for so long, that I should be used to it by now. But here I am, I just took my mom off life support and I’m back at the house that’s basically haunted me for the past 5 years.”

“I’m going to not take offense to that, I know you’re grieving,” Wynonna told her.

“I don’t mean offense, I just mean that I’ve been in love with your sister since I was 18 and being back here brings all that back to me, you know?” Nicole told her.

Wynonna nodded. “Well, if you want my advice, I’d try to take it one day at a time. My sister cares about you. She always has and I’m sure she always will. She’s going to be there for you. And listen, Haught, you will always have a family here.”

“Thank you, Wynonna,” Nicole smiled softly at the older woman. “It means a lot to me that you guys are here for me through all of this.”

Wynonna leaned in to hug Nicole.

“You’re hugging me,” Nicole laughed softly.

“Don’t push it, Haught pants,” Wynonna laughed, continuing to hug the redhead. “I’ll send Waverly up,” she told her as she pulled away from the embrace.

Nicole smiled and nodded. A few minutes later, Waverly appeared in the doorway of her bedroom. Nicole was sitting on the bed, staring at the floor.

“Was Wynonna nice to you?” Waverley asked, nervously.

“She was,” Nicole smiled, looking up at Waverly.

“Do you need anything, Nicole? Are you tired? Do you want to sleep?” Waverly began asking questions, nervously.

“Waves,” Nicole laughed.

“Yeah?” Waverly asked.

“Shh,” she laughed. “Come over here?”

Waverly nodded and joined Nicole on the bed.

“Am I suddenly making you nervous?” Nicole laughed.

“No, I just know it’s been day and I wasn’t sure what you needed,” Waverly explained.

“I just need this,” Nicole gestured to Waverly and the room. “Thank you for being there for me, Waverly. I’m not sure if you know how much it means to me.”

Waverly turned toward Nicole, her face about a foot away from the redhead’s. The pair made eye contact and sat in silence before Waverly’s began to lean in. Nicole pulled away quickly.

“Waverly, wait,” she spoke.

“Yeah?”

“I need to know something,” she began. “If I had come back here under different circumstances, would things still be the same?”

“What do you mean?” Waverly asked.

“I don’t want this to be about the fact that I just lost my mom. Emotions are crazy right now, and I get that. I know you cared about her too, Waves. And sometimes when people are emotional, they do things they wouldn’t otherwise do,” Nicole explained. 

“Nicole, I walked away after you answered my question earlier because I needed space in my own head to think of what I needed and how I felt. When you first showed up in the bar that night, I got mad. I was mad that you could just come back here after 5 years of not seeing you and it wasn’t for me. I was mad that I felt like you never fought for me when we did break up, but why should you have? It’s not fair for me to test you like that. I was scared then and I’m scared now, but that doesn’t stop myself from needing you.”

Nicole smiled softly back at Waverly.

“I’m not just using you, Nicole. If you want, we can wait until everything calms down, but I need you to know that I’m here now and I’ll be here then. However you want or need, this is me putting the ball in your court,” Waverly told her.

“Thank you,” was all Nicole said as she laid back on the bed. “Lay with me?” she asked.

Waverly smiled and nodded, crawling up next to to Nicole. Nicole lifted her arm to allow Waverly to lay close to her. Waverly wrapped her arm around Nicole’s torso.

“Tomorrow will you go to the house with me?” Nicole asked.

“Of course,” Waverly told her.

“Thank you,” Nicole said softly, kissing Waverly on the forehead.

As she turned the door handle of her mother’s house the next day, memories of when they first moved into that house began to flood Nicole’s head. They had spent years moving from house to house, town to town after they lost their house in the fire. Nicole’s mother had told her that she had finally found a house that they were going to stay in, but it didn’t stop Nicole from being skeptical of this.

 

**_June 2008_ **

_ “This is going to be it, Nicky!” her mother smiled as she opened the door to the new house. _

_ An 18-year-old Nicole looked back at her mother, skeptical at first, but excited when she saw in the inside of the house. _

_ “This is really ours?” Nicole asked. _

_ Her mother nodded and smiled at her daughter. _

_ “For how long?” Nicole asked. _

_ “Nicky-” her mother started _

_ “Really though, mom. It’s ours?” she asked once more.  _

_ “It’s ours, Nicole,” her mother smiled. _

_ Tears filled Nicole’s eyes as she made her way further into the house, letting out the breath she had been holding for years. _

 

**_Present Day_ **

Nicole sighed and began to walk into the house. “I don’t even know where to start.”

“Let’s just take it a little bit at a time,” Waverly smiled as she followed Nicole into the house.

The pair started to walk through different rooms of the house. Nicole looked around and took it all in. She walked into the kitchen, noticing some dishes were still left in the sink. She picked a plate up and started to run the water to wash it. The plate suddenly slipped out of her hand and crashed into the sink, breaking into pieces.

“Fuck!” Nicole yelled.

“Hey,” Waverly said, walking over to Nicole.

Waverly put her hand on Nicole’s shoulder and shut the water off. “Leave it,” she told her. “Let’s go upstairs and start there,” she suggested.

Nicole nodded and followed Waverly into her old bedroom. The pair started to go through the contents of the room, boxing up items that Nicole wanted to keep. Waverly pulled out a box that was on a shelf and opened the lid, finding a pile of old photos. She flipped through a few before pulling out a few photos and laughing out loud.

“What’s that?” Nicole asked.

“Some old photos,” Waverly told her.

“Oh, hell no!” Nicole called out as she hustled over to where Waverly was.

Waverly quickly moved her hand so Nicole could not grab the photo from her.

“Come on, Waves! Not funny!” Nicole protested.

“How come I haven’t seen these before?” Waverly asked, flipping to the next photo.

“Probably because of the way you’re laughing!” Nicole argued, trying to get the photos. “Come on Waves! It was the 90s! We probably all have the same haircut in that picture!”

Waverly started to laugh harder. “Oh, you for sure do,” she said as she continued to run away from Nicole.

Nicole tried once more to grab the photos and Waverly jumped away, suddenly tripping on one of the floor boards in the room and falling to the floor.

“Oh, shit! Waves! Are you okay?” Nicole ran to her side.

“Yeah,” Waverly laughed. “I guess karma is a bitch.”

Nicole offered her hand to Waverly and pulled the smaller woman to her feet.

“Loose floorboard,” Nicole explained as she pointed to the ground. “I used to hide things in there when I was a kid,” she laughed as she pulled the board up to see if there was anything left.

Nicole pulled out a small box, confused as to what it could be. She sat on the floor and opened the box and immediately started to laugh.

“What’s that?” Waverly asked.

“When I started at Purgatory High School, I used to write things down and put them in here. It was my way of coping with the fact that I had to be at a new school for one year and I knew absolutely no one there,” Nicole explained.

Nicole started to pull some of the papers out of the box. “I’m not sure how I feel about this new school yet,” she read. “The people seem too caught up with each other to notice that I exist.”

Waverly looked at Nicole, sympathetically, taking a seat on the floor next to her.

“It wasn’t like that forever,” Nicole assured her. “Met a cute girl today, she let me borrow her pencil in class,” she continued to read.

 

**_September 2008_ **

_ It was the end of the first week of school and Nicole had made it through the week with little to no conversation with any of the other students in the school. Being the new kid in school during her senior year was frustrating enough, but finding it hard to connect with the other students was the icing on the cake. _

_ Nicole was in her English class and took out her notebook to take notes. She realized that she did not have a pencil. Nicole rubbed her face with her hand in frustration and leaned over to the girl sitting next to her. _

_ “Do you have a pencil that I can borrow?” Nicole whispered. _

_ “Oh, yeah, here,” the girl whispered back as she handed the redhead a pencil. _

_ “Thanks,” Nicole smiled. _

_ The other girl smiled back at her. Nicole found herself briefly mesmerized by her smile, staring back at the girl. _

_ “Did you need something else? The girl asked. _

_ “Oh, no, sorry,” Nicole said as she shifted her attention to the front of the room. _

_ After class, Nicole walked up to the other girl  to give her pencil back to her. “Hey, uh, sorry, I _

_ don’t know your name,” she said to her. _

_ “Waverly,” the girl smiled. _

_ “Waverly,” Nicole smiled. “Here’s your pencil,” she said as she handed her the pencil. _

_ “Oh, thanks,” the brunette smiled. _

_ “I’m Nicole by the way.” _

_ “Well, it’s nice to meet you, Nicole.” _

 

**_Present Day_ **

“She sat with me at lunch,” Nicole continued to read. “She is giving me hope for this year.”

Waverly smiled back at Nicole. “Anything else about written about me in there?” she asked, curiously, reaching for the box.

Nicole moved the box out of reach. “Wouldn’t you like to know,” she winked.

“Come on! I want the juicy stuff!” Waverly whined, leaning into Nicole’s side.

“You were there for all the juicy stuff!” Nicole laughed.

“Do you ever miss those days?” Waverly asked.

“Being awkward teenagers?” Nicole laughed.

“What about falling in love for the first time?” Waverly asked.

“That part was pretty good,” Nicole winked.

“Just pretty good?” Waverly laughed. “I still remember the exact moment I realized I was in love with you.”

 

**_April 2009_ **

_ “So there’s this thing I have tomorrow and I was wondering if you wanted to come with me?” Waverly asked, walking up behind Nicole would was sitting at her desk in her room. _

_ “Sure, what’s that?” Nicole responded, not looking up from her desk. _

_ “A volunteer program,” Waverly smiled, hoping Nicole would go along with it. _

_ “Are you trying to turn me into a good person?” Nicole laughed, turning around to see her girlfriend grinning back at her. _

_ “You already are a good person! That’s why you want to come with me, right?” Waverly asked, wrapping her arms around the redhead’s shoulders, lightly kissing her neck. _

_ Nicole groaned and threw her head back. “Volunteering on a Saturday? I’m not a nerd, Waves,” Nicole winked. _

_ “Wow, okay,” Waverly said, defensively, standing up and backing away slightly.  _

_ “I’m only kidding,” Nicole laughed, turning around in her chair. “I’d love to go,” she smiled. _

_ “Okay good, because I didn’t want to have to beg,” Waverly laughed. _

_ “Oh, damn, I would have liked to see that,” Nicole winked, pulling Waverly onto her lap. _

_ “Don’t push it, Haught,” Waverly said with a warning finger. _

_ The next day the pair headed into the community center to see groups of kids throughout the room. Waverly settled into a table with a small group of kids, working on homework with them. Nicole found herself drawn to a group of kids playing basketball. _

_ “You play?” A boy asked her. _

_ “Hardly,” she laughed as the boy tossed her the basketball. _

_ Nicole dribbled briefly before shooting the ball into the basket, nothing but net. _

_ “Luck,” she winked. _

_ After playing for a little while, Nicole noticed a boy on the side of the gym, not engaging with anyone else. She made her way up to him. _

_ “Do you want to play?” Nicole asked. _

_ The boy shook his head and looked down toward his feet. _

_ “What do you like to do?” Nicole asked him. _

_ The boy looked up and stared back at her. Nicole glanced down to see the boy was wearing a pair of dirty, old basketball sneakers, clad with several holes. They appeared to be too small for his feet. _

_ “Do you want to be on my team?” Nicole smiled, squatting down to his level. _

_ The boy smiled back at Nicole. _

_ Waverly glanced up from the table to see Nicole engaging with the boy in the corner. She smiled at her and didn’t realize how long she had been staring at her. _

_ “Um, Miss Earp?” one of the children asked, breaking her from her trance. _

_ “Oh, sorry,” Waverly said, turning her attention back to the table. _

_ “Who are you staring at?” the girl asked. _

_ “Oh, no one,” Waverly laughed. “I was just seeing how the basketball game was doing,” she winked. _

_ Waverly glanced up once more at Nicole and smiled to herself. _

_ On the way to the car, Waverly looked up at Nicole and smiled. _

_ “What are you smiling at?” Nicole asked. _

_ “Thank you,” Waverly said. _

_ “For what?” Nicole asked. _

_ “For coming today. For really trying and making a connection with Toby.” _

_ “You saw that?” Nicole asked. “He’s cute,” she said. _

_ “He struggles a lot connecting with the other kids. They’re not always the nicest to him,” Waverly explained. _

_ “I understand how he feels,” Nicole explained. “It wasn’t always easy for me either. He’s a cool kid,” she smiled. _

_ “You’re pretty amazing, Nicole Haught,” Waverly smiled. _

_ Nicole smiled back at Waverly as they climbed into her jeep. Waverly drove the pair back to the homestead. _

_ “I’m home, Wynonna!” Waverly called out as she opened the front door. _

_ There was silence throughout the house. _

_ “She must not be home,” Waverly shrugged and she lead Nicole into the living room. “As least we get first dibs on the tv,” she laughed and she sat down on the couch, Nicole following closely behind her. _

_ “So I had fun today,” Nicole said. “I’m sorry I was making fun of you.” _

_ “It’s fine, babe,” Waverly smiled. _

_ “Can I come next time?” Nicole asked. _

_ Waverly turned and smiled at her girlfriend. “You’re not just saying that to make me happy?” _

_ “No, I mean it,” Nicole smiled. _

_ Waverly got up from the couch and stood in front of her girlfriend. She then climbed on Nicole’s lap with her knees on either side of her legs, sitting down on top of her thighs. _

_ “Damn if volunteering got me this Waverly, I would have done it earlier,” Nicole winked. _

_ Waverly wrapped her arms around Nicole’s neck and pulled her in for a kiss. She pulled away from Nicole’s lips and leaned in toward her ear. _

_ “I’m in love with you,” Waverly whispered. _

_ Waverly could feel the smile grow across Nicole’s lips as she pulled away to look at her girlfriend’s face. Nicole pulled Waverly in for another kiss as she felt her heart begin to beat harder in her chest. _

_ “I love you too, Waves,” she smiled. _

 

**_Present Day_ **

“Man, what I’d give to go back to those days,” Nicole laughed. 

“Why’s that?” Waverly asked. 

“I don’t know, times were more simple, I guess,” Nicole said.

“You should relive these days,” Waverly laughed, holding up the photograph again. “I can’t get over this haircut,” she said, waving the photo at Nicole.

Nicole shook her head at Waverly. “Hell no,” she laughed. “But I’d definitely go back to senior year.”

“Meh, I don’t know,” Waverly said. “High School wasn’t that simple, it just seems like it now. I definitely wouldn’t want to relive my senior year,” she laughed. “I guess yours was pretty fun though,” she winked. 

“Well that’s because I wasn’t there for yours,” Nicole winked, nuding the brunette playfully. 

“Oh yeah?” Waverly asked with a laugh. “You think you’re hot shit, don’t you?”

“I thought you liked my cocky side?” Nicole joked. 

“When we were teenagers I thought it was cute. You’re pushing 30 now, Haught,” she winked. 

“Ugh, don’t remind me,” Nicole groaned, leaning back on the floor. 

Waverly stood up from the floor and playfully kicked Nicole with her foot. “All right, old lady, we need to get moving if we’re ever going to get this place clean,” Waverly laughed. 

“Man, you’re no fun,” Nicole whined, standing up from the floor as well. She quickly snatched the photo from Waverly’s hand and threw it back into the box of photos, closing the lid.


	11. Chapter 11

The funeral for Nicole’s mother was scheduled for the next week. Waverly and Nicole had spent the majority of the week cleaning out the house and getting everything in order the for funeral. Waverly had been there every step of the way over the course of the week. She didn’t want Nicole to have to go through it all alone and she had enjoyed spending time with her again. She felt that, regardless of what might happen between the two of them, they were building their friendship back and she was really enjoying the time she spent with Nicole.

It was two days before the funeral and the pair was tired from the week of cleaning and preparations. 

“I’m so done for the day,” Nicole sighed as she laid back, stretching her legs out the full length of the couch.

“Okay, but you’re going to need to move so I can be done with you,” Waverly laughed, trying to pull Nicole’s legs to the side so she could sit with her.

“Ugh, come on, Earp! I’m comfy!” Nicole protested.

“I’m going to make you uncomfy really quick,” Waverly warned.

“Man, she’s getting feisty,” Nicole winked.

“Fine,” Waverly huffed. “I’ll sit on you,” she said, sitting down on top of Nicole’s legs.

“Deal,” Nicole winked.

“Nicole!” Waverly protested, trying to get her to move again.

“Lay next to me, then!” Nicole laughed, moving over to give Waverly enough room to lay between her and the back of the couch. 

Waverly climbed over Nicole’s body, briefly hovering over her, bringing her face close to the redhead’s. Waverly looked into Nicole’s eyes. She moved so close to her face that she could feel Nicole’s breath on her lips. 

“You’re impossible,” Waverly whispered with a wink and she slid her body over Nicole’s, getting comfortable in the provided space.

Waverly propped her head up with her elbow and wrapped her other arm around Nicole’s stomach. Nicole turned her face toward Waverly, grinning.

“What are you smiling for?” Waverly huffed. 

“No reason,” Nicole continued to smile.

“So you really have to go back the day after the funeral?” Waverly asked, bringing her hand up to Nicole’s hair, beginning to play with it with her fingers. 

Nicole sighed. “Yeah,” she said softly. 

“You can’t stay until after Christmas?” Waverly asked.

“I really have to get back to work, Waves,” Nicole explained. “I already missed one of my assignments.”

“I get it,” Waverly told her. “I’m proud of you for following your dreams, Nicole,” she smiled.    
  


**_October 2008_ **

_ Nicole was laying on the ground outside of the school, at the end of lunch, near the football field. Waverly came up next to her and sat down on the ground. _

_ “Nicole? What are you doing?” Waverly asked. _

_ “I’m napping,” Nicole smiled with her eyes closed.  _

_ “Well, I suggest you stop because the bell rang and you’re going to be late to history,” Waverly told her.  _

_ “You know my schedule?” Nicole smiled, opening one eye to see Waverly sitting next to her. _

_ “Maybe,” she winked. “Now get up!” _

_ “Aren’t you going to be late by sitting here and arguing with me?” Nicole laughed as she opened her other eye and sat up, facing the younger girl. _

_ “Well, don’t say I didn’t warn you!” Waverly huffed as she stood up. _

_ “Play hooky with me?” Nicole asked. _

_ “Nicole-” Waverly warned. _

_ “Oh, come on! It’s one class. It’s too early in the year for it to matter!” Nicole told her. _

_ Waverly sighed and looked around to see that there was no one else outside with them. “Fine,” she sighed. “Do you do this often?” she asked. _

_ “It’s just really nice out,” Nicole said, avoiding the question. _

_ “That’s not what I asked,” Waverly told her. _

_ “I’ve had my fair share of playing hooky,” she admitted. “Never with a girl as cute as you though,” she winked. _

_ “You think you're smooth,” Waverly smiled. _

_ “Am I not?” Nicole smiled back at her, dimples showing. _

_ “Tell me something about yourself,” Waverly suggested.  _

_ “Umm, my favorite color is blue,” Nicole stated. _

_ “No, something real!” Waverly laughed.  _

_ “Fine! Like what?” Nicole asked. _

_ “What’s your dream?” Waverly asked. _

_ “Like my dream job?” Nicole asked. _

_ “Yeah, what do you want to do with your life?” Waverly asked. _

_ “Laying on the ground outside of the high school with you isn’t an option, is it?” Nicole winked _

_ Waverly shook her head. _

_ “I want to travel the world and take photos,” Nicole admitted. _

_ “You take photos?” Waverly asked. _

_ “Is that surprising?”  _

_ “No, that’s not what I meant,” Waverly laughed. “Do you plan on going to college?” _

_ “I applied for a photojournalism program at NYU. I’m not sure if I’ll get in, but it’s the dream,” Nicole smiled.  _

_ “What’s the dream after college? Do you want to stay in New York?” Waverly asked. _

_ “I want to travel the world,” Nicole smiled. “My hub can be anywhere, to be honest, as long as I get to take photos.” _

_ “Well, I think that’s a wonderful dream, Nicole,” Waverly smiled.  _

_ “What about you, Earp?” Nicole asked. _

_ “I want to teach. It’s always been a passion of mine. But honestly, it would be awesome to teach in a third world country somewhere. I feel like more kids need a chance in life.” _

_ “That’s really cool of you, Waverly,” Nicole told her. _   
  


**_Present Day_ **

“I’m sorry I didn’t follow through,” Waverly told her.

“Hey,” Nicole said, placing a finger over Waverly’s mouth. “Don’t do that. You’re teaching History, Waves! You love your job! That’s all that matters,” she smiled.

“Sometimes I wonder what it would be like if I did what I said I was going to do,” Waverly told her.

“Well, I think that’s natural, but you’re doing great things, Waves,” Nicole told her. “For what it’s worth, I’m proud of you.”

“It’s worth a lot, thanks, Nicole,” Waverly smiled. “So are you going to go another 5 years without visiting this time when you go?” she asked.

Nicole gave her an apologetic look. “No,” she said softly. “I think your sister would kick my ass,” she winked.

“Oh, so you’ll come back here to see my sister?” Waverly got defensive. 

“You have the cool sister, remember?” Nicole winked. 

 

**_January 2009_ **

_ “You sure it’s cool that I crash here? Your sister doesn’t mind?” Nicole asked. _

_ “Wynonna? Oh, no, she probably wouldn’t even notice,” Waverly laughed. _

_ “Oh, I don’t want to sneak around!” Nicole told her. _

_ Waverly started to laugh. “Nicole, it’s okay, she won’t care.” _

_ “Can you still ask her?” Nicole insisted. _

_ “Sure,” Waverly smiled. “Hey, Wynonna!” she called down the stairs. _

_ “What’s up, babygirl?” Wynonna asked as she entered the room. _

_ “Is it cool if Nicole spends the night?” Waverly asked.  _

_ “Oh, yeah, sure,” Wynonna shrugged. “I don’t care,” she laughed. _

_ “In the same bed?” Waverly asked. _

_ Nicole’s eyes widened and Waverly laughed.  _

_ “Sure, you need condoms?” Wynonna winked. _

_ “We’re good,” Nicole said quickly. _

_ Waverly laughed as Wynonna left the room, shooting her sister a wink.  _

_ “Nicole, relax,” Waverly said. “We’re just kidding. She’s a pretty cool sister,” she winked. “So you wanna make out?” _

_ “Yeah,” Nicole sighed with a smile, turning toward Waverly. _

 

**_Present Day_ **

Waverly broke out into laughter at the memory. “Oh man! You were so adorable and nervous!” 

“Yeah, you two thought it was so funny to freak out poor little teenage, Nicole,” she laughed.

“I mean, it was a little funny,” Waverly laughed. 

“I just wanted to be respectful,” Nicole told her. “I really liked you!”

“I know,” Waverly said. “It was cute,” she whispered in Nicole’s ear.

Nicole shivered at the feeling of Waverly’s breath on her neck and ear. Nicole turned her head to face Waverly. 

“Wanna make out?” Waverly whispered, with a wink.

“Yeah,” Nicole sighed with a smile, turning toward Waverly. 

Waverly smiled as her lips connected with Nicole’s. They continued to kiss on the couch for a while before the door opens and Wynonna walks in. 

“Get a room,” she huffed as she walked past them. They continued to kiss and ignore her.

Wynonna smiled to herself as she walked into the kitchen. It was nice to see her sister happy again.

 

The next day, Nicole and Waverly arrived together to the funeral of Nicole’s mother. Waverly noticed that Nicole was extra quiet that day. She didn’t push to make her talk any more than she wanted to. She continued to check in with her, making sure she didn’t need anything.

“Waves, I’m okay,” Nicole told her. “I promise.”

“Okay, I’m sorry,” Waverly said. “I just want to make sure you know I’m here.”

“I know,” Nicole smiled softly. “Thank you, again.”

The day was a blur for Nicole. People came in and out of the building. Some walked by her, some stopped to speak with her. People she knew, people she didn’t know. They all offered their condolences to Nicole before walking by her and up to her mother who laid lifeless in a nearby coffin. Waverly had stepped outside for a minute with her sister to get some air after Nicole told her that she would be fine.

Once outside, Waverly spotted Nicole’s aunt and father, making their way out of the car in the parking lot and toward the funeral home. Waverly breathed in a sharp breath and Wynonna noticed where her eyes were looking.

“Stay here,” Wynonna told her as she made her way to Nicole’s father, Waverly watching from afar.

“You might want to keep walking,” Wynonna said. 

“Nicole’s friend?” he asked.

“What are you doing here?” Wynonna asked.

“That’s my sister,” Nicole’s aunt said. “I came to pay my respects.” 

“I get that,” Wynonna explained, “but I’m not about to let you walk into that funeral home and make a scene. And I’m sure as hell not about to let you upset my friend, your niece or your daughter or not. That girl has been through hell with all of this and you are NOT about to make this worse. So please, I’m going to need you to turn around and go back into your car.”

“Listen, I don’t know who the hell you think you are!” Jeanine argued. “But that IS my niece in there and she needs her family during this time too.” 

“So she didn’t need her family any other time?” Wynonna spat.

“You don’t even know what you’re talking about,” Nicole’s aunt told her. 

“Listen, lady, I’ve known that woman in there since she was 18 years old. I get that it’s not her whole life, but I can probably tell you a whole lot more about her than you can. I housed her and fed her for several nights over those years, so if you think I’m just going to let you barge back into her life because it’s what YOU think she needs, you’re wrong!” Wynonna spat. “And you’re right, she does need her family. That’s why we’re here,” she gestured between herself and Waverly. 

Jeanine looked as if she was about to argue again and Nicole’s dad put his arm out to stop her.

“Jeanine,” he said softly. “We should go.”

“That’s my sister!” she protested. 

“You had time to see her when she was alive, and you decided to pick her husband instead,” Wynonna stated.

“We’re going,” Nicole’s father said, leading his wife back to the car.

Wynonna turned back to Waverly with wide eyes. 

“I didn’t think that would be that easy,” Wynonna told her.

“What did they say?” Waverly asked.

“They wanted to see Nicole’s mom and I told them that’s not the best choice right now. Nicole doesn’t need any more stress right now and I sure as hell am not about to let that trash inside,” Wynonna told her.

“Thank you, Wynonna,” Waverly hugged her sister. “I’m going to go check on her.”

Wynonna smiled and nodded at her sister. She followed behind Waverly as she walked into the funeral home and back up to Nicole. Wynonna stopped in the doorway and watched Waverly and Nicole interact. Waverly gently placed her hand on Nicole’s lower back and looked up at her, saying something that made Nicole smile softly down at her and nod her head. Waverly continued to stand next to Nicole, leaving her hand gently on her lower back. Wynonna noticed how comfortable the pair looked together.   
  


**_January 1st, 2009_ **

_ “Do you think it’s weird?” Waverly asked her sister. _

_ “What’s weird?” Wynonna asked. _

_ “That I like a girl?” Waverly asked, shyly. _

_ “Babygirl,” Wynonna started. “Have a seat,” she gestured to the couch and sat down next to her younger sister. “Waverly, is that girl good to you?” _

_ Waverly nodded. “She’s really sweet,” she smiled. _

_ “What do you like about her?” Wynonna asked. _

_ “She’s patient,” Waverly told her. “She’s really kind. She acts tough, but she’s pretty soft around me. She lets me in. She inspires me, she supports me and encourages me. She listens,” she smiled. _

_ “Then I have no problem with it,” Wynonna assured her. “I don’t care who you love if that person is going to love you right back the way you deserve to be loved.” _

_ “Thank you,” Waverly smiled. “I was a little afraid to tell you. I just didn’t want to disappoint you.” _

_ “You could never disappoint me, babygirl. Let me tell you one thing, if I had someone who looked at me the way Nicole Haught looks at you, I would never want to let them go,” Wynonna winked. _

_ “She’s pretty great,” Waverly smiled. “And really pretty,” she laughed. _

_ “She really is,” Wynonna winked. _

 

**_Present Day_ **

After the funeral, Nicole and Waverly made their way over to Wynonna, who was giving them a ride back to the homestead. Nicole had the rest of her belongings there and needed to pack to go back home to New York City the next day. 

“Thanks for sticking around, Wynonna,” Nicole said. “I know it’s not really your scene.” 

“Are funerals anyone’s scene?” Wynonna laughed. 

“I meant being the sentimental friend,” Nicole winked. “Waves told me that you told my aunt off.” 

“Yeah, sorry if you wanted them here,” Wynonna said apologetically. “I just didn’t want to cause you anymore stress than you had.” 

“No, you did the right thing,” Nicole smiled. “Thank you.” 

“Anytime, Haught,” Wynonna winked. 

The ride back to the homestead was quiet. Nicole sat in the passenger seat, leaning her head back against the headrest. Waverly sat behind her with her hand on her shoulder. When they made it back to the homestead, the three woman walked quietly into the house. 

“You hungry?” Wynonna asked.

Nicole and Waverly shook their heads and made their way up to Waverly’s room to pack Nicole’s bags.

“I don’t want to pack,” Nicole whined, laying back on the bed.

Waverly let out a laugh at the sight of Nicole dramatically dropping to the bed. “If you don’t pack you don’t have to go, right?” she winked.

“I wish,” Nicole laughed.

“Really?” Waverly asked. “I thought you liked it out there?”

“I don’t know,” Nicole said, softly. “How about we don’t talk about it tonight. One more night of this. Just you and me.”

“Wow, am I not invited?” Wynonna huffed as she entered the room.

Nicole started to laugh. “Oh sure, Wynonna, come on over,” she said as she gestured to the bed. 

Wynonna laid down on the bed next to Nicole, wrapping her arms around the redhead. 

“Should I be disturbed by this?” Waverly asked, looking at her sister cuddling with Nicole. 

Wynonna and Nicole started to laugh. “You know you want to join us, babygirl,” Wynonna winked.

“Fine,” Waverly sighed as she climbed in bed, between Nicole and Wynonna. 

The three woman fell into easy conversation with each other. 


	12. Chapter 12

It was the day after the funeral and Waverly was leaving the airport that evening after dropping Nicole off to head back to New York City. She made her way back to her jeep and slowly opened the door, climbing into the driver’s seat. She sat, momentarily, with her hands on the wheel, with the jeep still off. She took a deep breath in, slowly letting it in. Pushing the key into the ignition, she turned the jeep on and slowly drove out of the parking garage.

As she drove away from the airport that evening, she glanced in the rearview mirror, seeing planes take off into the sky behind her. Waverly glanced into the empty seat next to her and tears began to fall from her eyes as she continued to drive.

She drove back into town, turning into the parking lot of Shorty’s and parked her car. She sat for a little while in the car before she climbed out. When she entered the building, she found her friends in a booth to the left of her. They gave her sympathetic smiles and she made her way to the table and slid into the booth next to Jeremy.

Rosita slid a drink across the table to Waverly. Waverly smiled softly at her. “Thanks, Rosie,” she said.

“How are you?” Jeremy asked.

“I’ll be okay,” Waverly smiled at him as she took a sip of her drink.

Wynonna entered the bar and made her way over to the booth, sliding in next to Waverly.

“What’s up, babygirl?” she asked as she threw her arm around Waverly’s shoulder. “Nerds?” she asked, nodding to Jeremy and Rosita.

Waverly started to laugh. “Hey, Wynonna.”

“So?” Wynonna asked.

“So, what?” Waverly asked.

“What went down with Haught stuff?” Wynonna asked.

“I dropped her off at the airport,” Waverly sighed.

“And?” Wynonna asked. 

“And nothing,” Waverly said as she took another sip of her drink.

“Nothing at all?!” Wynonna asked, shocked. 

“So are you together?” Rosita asked.

“No,” Waverly said softly. “I love her, but I’m not sure where we’re going to go from here.”   
  


**_Earlier that day_ **

_ “Do you have everything?” Waverly asked, as she picked up Nicole’s backpack and swung it over her shoulder. _

_ “Waves, you’ve asked me that 6 times,” Nicole laughed as she put her luggage in the trunk. “Give me that,” she said as she took the backpack from Waverly and put it in the trunk with her other luggage. _

_ “You can never be too sure,” Waverly winked. _

_ “I’ll be back anyway,” Nicole assured her. _

_ Waverly looked at Nicole and sighed. _

_ “I know,” Nicole said softly as she placed a hand on Waverly’s shoulder. _

_ Waverly took Nicole’s hand in her own and kissed it. Nicole smiled back at her. _

_ “We better get going,” Nicole said. _

_ Waverly nodded and climbed up into the jeep, Nicole joining her on the passenger side. The drive to the airport was quiet at times and other times filled with small talk. The conversation felt natural, like things had never changed between them. Neither of them discussed what was or what was not going on between them at this time. They just spend the tie enjoying each other’s company. _

_ As the pulled into the airport, Waverly parked the car in the parking garage. The pair sat quietly in the car for a moment before Nicole opened the passenger side door.  _

_ “You don’t have to get out if you don’t want to,” Nicole assured her. _

_ “I want to,” Waverly smiled as she climbed out of the car and helped Nicole take her bags out of the trunk. _

_ The pair stopped walking just before the security checkpoint. _

_ “Will you let me know when you land?” Waverly asked. _

_ “Of course,” Nicole smiled. “And I’ll let you know when I can make it back again. I promise it won’t be another 5 years,” she laughed. _

_ Waverly smiled and placed her hand softly on Nicole’s cheek. _

_ “You’re going to do great things, Nicole Haught,” she said softly. _

_ Nicole leaned slightly down and placed a soft kiss on Waverly’s lips. She took a deep breath in and let it out slowly as she turned to go through security. Waverly watched her as she gave her ID to the TSA officer. As Nicole was handed back her ID and plane ticket, she glanced back once more at Waverly, giving her a small wave and a smile. Waverly smiled and waved back at her and continued to watch until she could no longer see her. _

_ Waverly then turned around and headed back to the parking garage alone. Thoughts of a conversation that they had that morning flooded her head. They talked about what would happen next between the two of them. They talked about how hard it might be with Nicole being back in New York without Waverly. They talked about not wanting to hold each other back no matter how much they wanted to be together. Waverly wanted to turn to Nicole as she watched her going through security and tell her to stay. She wanted to tell her how much better life is with Nicole in it, how in love with her she still was even after all these years. But she knew she couldn’t. She knew she had to let her go and allow her to do great things, no matter how much she wanted her to stay. _   
  


**_Present Day_ **

“I’m sorry, Waves,” Wynonna said softly.

Waverly nodded at her sister. “Can we just forget about it for tonight?” she asked, softly.

Jeremy stood up from the table and headed toward the bar. “I got you!” he called back at her.

Jeremy returned with another round of drinks for the table. The group spent the rest of the night drinking and talking in attempts to keep Waverly’s mind off of Nicole. Waverly periodically glanced down at her phone, hoping to hear from Nicole. A part of her wished she would text her telling her that she was staying, but somewhere deep down inside of her, she knew that Nicole needed to go back to New York.   
  


Nicole landed in New York City later than night. The sky was dark and the air was cold. She swung her backpack over her shoulder and headed for the front of the plane. She made her way out of the plane and down to baggage claim. Waiting for her bag to arrived on the carousel, she took her phone out of her pocket.

_ Nicole (11:45pm): Hey there, I made it _

_ Waverly (11:45pm): thanks for letting me know! _

_ Nicole (11:46pm): How’s shortys?  _

_ Waverly (11:47): how do you know that’s where I am?  _

_ Nicole (11:47): aren’t you working tonight?  _

_ Waverly (11:48pm): they gave me the night off. I’m having drinks with Jeremy, Rosie and Wynonna _

_ Nicole (11:48pm): tell them I said hi? _

_ Waverly (11:48): I miss you  _

Nicole sighed. She felt a pain in the pit of her stomach. She wasn’t sure what she was doing back in New York. Being back in Purgatory made her remember what it was like to feel again. She sighed and out her phone back in her pocket. She waited another 5 minutes before he bag showed up in front of her. She grabbed her bag off of the moving carousel and made her way out of the airport.    
  


In the week before Christmas, Waverly and Nicole had spoken a few times on the phone and via text message. Both women would find excuses to have to get off the phone with one another or be too busy to respond at times, keeping the conversations at a minimum. This wasn’t because they didn’t want to talk, but more because it hurt too much when they had to stop. 

Wynonna entered Waverly’s bedroom on Christmas morning to find her sister still asleep. She stopped in the doorway, briefly, noticing Waverly was holding a pillow tight to her chest. Her face appeared to be swollen, possibly from crying herself to sleep. 

Wynonna sighed as she quietly made her way into the room and sat on the bed next to her sister.

“Merry Christmas, Waves,” Wynonna said softly.

Waverly rolled over and squinted her eyes open to see her sister sitting on the bed. 

“Merry Christmas,” Waverly smiled softly.

“How are you doing, babygirl?” Wynonna asked.

“I’m good, just tired,” she yawned. “It’s been a long week.”

Wynonna stared at her sister.

“Why are you looking at me like that?” Waverly asked, sitting up in bed, rubbing her eyes. 

“I know you didn’t really want to discuss it when she first left, but it’s been a few days now. You know I’m here if you need to talk about it, right?” Wynonna asked. 

Waverly sighed and nodded. 

“I’m the queen of not talking about it, Waves,” Wynonna winked. “I’ll tell you one thing, it doesn’t help.”

“I know,” Waverly said softly. 

“You gonna call her today?”

“Probably not,” Waverly said, getting out of bed.

“Waves, it’s Christmas,” Wynonna said. “Maybe it would be nice to hear from her today. I’m sure she’d appreciate hearing from you.” 

“Wynonna, if I’m going to move on, I can’t keep going back,” Waverly sighed. 

“By why are you trying to move on?” Wynonna asked. “And what about a friendship?” 

“We’re just in different places. We have different dreams and as much as I’d like to make it work, I don’t think it’s going to,” Waverly admitted. “I don’t know if I was ever meant to be her friend.” 

“Well, if you want my opinion-” Wynonna began.

“Will you give it even if I don’t?” Waverly asked.

“Yes,” Wynonna laughed.

“Fine,” Waverly groaned.

“I think you’re good for each other. I think you make each other whole. And I think you’re your best self with her. I think if you guys try, making it work wouldn’t be as hard as it seems,” Wynonna told her. “And I think you were always friends, Waves, even when you were more.” 

Waverly looked back at her sister with tears in her eyes. Wynonna opened her arms toward her sister, inviting her in for a hug. Waverly leaned into her sister, accepting the hug and allowing her to envelope her arms around her body as tears continued to pour down her face. 

 

Three days after Christmas, Waverly decided to see how things felt with Samantha again. She asked her to dinner to give them time to talk now that things had calmed down in her life. She had spoken to Nicole a couple of times since Christmas, but still felt that she would be holding the redhead back if she let her know her feelings about her. She thought maybe trying things again with Samantha would clear her mind and allow her to continue life in Purgatory as she was before Nicole had come back. 

“Thanks for coming to dinner with me tonight, Samantha,” Waverly said with a smile as she sat down at the table in front of the blonde.

“Of course, I was surprised when you asked me,” Samantha smiled.

“There was just so much going on, I needed time to think. Thank you for letting me do that,” Waverly said. 

“Hey, I get it, Waverly. Everyone has a past. No more surprise ex girlfriends are going to be showing up anytime soon though, right?” she laughed.

“She’s basically it so, probably not,” Waverly laughed. 

“So did you have a nice Christmas?” Samantha asked.

“I did,” Waverly smiled. “It was quiet, but nice. How about you? Was it nice to see your family?”

“It was. It was a little chaotic, but I missed that part a little bit. It’s nice to get back to the quiet though,” she smiled. “Any plans for New Year’s Eve yet?”

“We usually have a party,” Waverly explained. “They’ve calmed down quite a bit since high school though,” she laughed.

“Oh yeah?” Samantha laughed. “Wild Earp parties, huh?”

“They had their moments,” Waverly laughed.   
  


**_December 31, 2009_ **

_ “Happy New Year!” the group called out as couples turned to each other and smiled. _

_ “Are you two not into PDA anymore?” Wynonna asked, turning to Waverly and Nicole. Nicole was sitting in an armchair and Waverly was sitting up on the arm of the chair. “I’ve caught you guys making out plenty of times.” _

_ “Kissing at midnight on New Year’s Eve is completely cliche,” Waverly rolled her eyes at her sister. _

_ Nicole laughed as she wrapped her arms around Waverly’s waist from behind, pulling her into her lap. _

_ “Oh, okay,” Wynonna said, laughing. “Too good for New Year’s Eve traditions?” _

_ “Maybe we have our own,” Waverly winked. _

_ “Um, barf!” Wynonna huffed. “Listen, I know we have thin walls, but I don’t actually have to know what happens behind your closed door!”  _

_ “That’s not what I meant!” Waverly protested. _

_ “Maybe we can add that,” Nicole whispered into Waverly’s ear. _

_ “Don’t push it, Haught!” Waverly warned, laughing.  _

_ “Fine!” Nicole laughed. “It’s 12:07,” she smiled.  _

_ “3, 2, 1,” Waverly counted down as she leaned in to kiss her girlfriend. _

_ “12:08,” Nicole smiled. “Happy New Year,” she whispered.  _

_ “Wait, what?” Wynonna asked. _

_ “It’s our thing,” Waverly said, smiling at Nicole. _

_ “Yeah, you guys are gross,” Wynonna laughed. _   
  


**_Present Day_ **

After dinner, Samantha walked Waverly out to her jeep in the parking lot. The pair stopped nearby the driver’s side of the jeep, before Waverly climbed in the car. 

“I had a good time tonight,” Samantha smiled. 

“It was nice to have a relaxing night,” Waverly laughed. “Sometimes that exactly what I need,” she smiled. 

Samantha leaned in to kiss Waverly. Waverly reciprocated the kiss momentarily, then pulled away.

“Sam,” Waverly started.

“You’re not feeling it, are you?” Samantha asked.

“It’s not that I don’t like you, I just don’t think I’m ready for anything,” Waverly explained.

“You’re still in love with her,” Samantha said, matter of factly. 

Waverly let out a sigh. “I am,” Waverly admitted. “Look, Sam, I’m sorry,” Waverly told her.

“It’s okay, Waverly,” Samantha smiled. “I’d rather you be honest with me.”

“Thanks for being understanding,” Waverly smiled.    
  


As Waverly drove herself home that night, her mind began to fill with thoughts of Nicole. There was an ache in her chest thinking about trying to move on without her. 

“Maybe Wynonna was right,” she said out loud to herself. 

Waverly sighed to herself as she pulled into the driveway of the homestead. She got out of the car and entered the house.

“You’re home early,” Wynonna said to her sister.

“Yeah,” Waverly said, softly.

“Is everything okay?” Wynonna asked.

“Yeah, hey, would you be able to help me with something?” Waverly asked.


	13. Chapter 13

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I have a few more chapters before the end of this story and I wanted to thank everyone for reading and all of the positive feedback you've had! I'm glad so many people have enjoyed this story and put up with me through all of the angst!
> 
> I've recently posted a new story called, "Fire In The Cold." If anyone wants some Wayhaught at a ski lodge, check that one out! :)
> 
> Thanks again for the support!

New Year’s Eve arrived in the city and Nicole decided to go out to a bar with her friends from work. She thought maybe it would give her something to do other than sit around her apartment, feeling sorry for herself. Or worse, sitting around her apartment wishing Waverly were there with her. She knew that they had made the right choice for where they were in life at that moment. They had jobs and lives in different locations. Well, she know that Waverly had a life where she was. Nicole was just sort of going through the motions at this point. 

She spent the night at the bar, having a few drinks and mingling with her coworkers. She watched as Robin shamelessly flirted with some guy that was sitting alone at the bar. Shae made a few passes at Nicole, letting her know that she was there if she didn’t want to feel lonely that night. Little did she know, that wasn’t what took her loneliness away.

It was a little before midnight and Nicole tappedRobin on the shoulder, taking his attention away from the other guy for a moment. “Hey, Robin, I think I’m going to head out a little early,” Nicole said to her friend.

“It’s not even midnight yet!” Robin protested. He glanced back at the guy he was talking with. “We’ll keep you company for the countdown!” The other man nodded in agreement. 

“I know, it’s okay, I’m just going to head back to my place,” Nicole told him.

“Do you want me to walk you?” Robin asked, standing up from the bar. 

“No, no, stay! Enjoy the rest of the night! Happy New Year!” Nicole said, smiling at her friend. 

“Happy New Year, Nicole,” Robin smiled.

Nicole made her way through the crowded bar and out into the fresh air. She took a look up at the night sky as she often did. The sky was dark, but appeared to be almost lit up by the amount of city lights that there were. As she walked down the street, she took in all the sites around here. There were people lining the streets, in and out of bars. Music played loudly and she could hear people talking and cheering in every bar and restaurant that she passed by. As she made her way toward her apartment, the streets became quieter the further away from the crowds she became. In the distance the cheers appeared to get louder and Nicole looked down at her watch.

“Happy New Year,” Nicole said as she took a deep breath in and smiled to herself. 

She felt that this year was going to be good, regardless of what happened and what might happen. She was thankful for the experiences she had in the past year, the good and the bad, and that she was finally able to get a lot more off her chest when she was home in Purgatory. She looked forward to seeing where this next year would take her. 

As she turned the corner just before her apartment, she could see someone sitting on the steps of the stoop outside her building. She immediately put her guard up, unsure of who it might be. She took a few more steps and squinted her eyes, realizing she recognized the person who was sitting there. As she walked a little closer, the woman rose to her feet. 

“Waverly?” Nicole asked as she continued to walk toward her apartment building. 

“Hi,” Waverly said, softly, as she smiled back at her. 

“What are you doing out here?” Nicole asked, confused. It hadn’t quite sunk in fully yet that Waverly was really standing in front of her.

“I heard New York is the place to be on New Year’s Eve,” she smiled.

“There’s more of a party in Manhattan,” Nicole laughed, gesturing over her shoulder to a different part of the city.

“Damn, I guess I got that wrong,” Waverly laughed.

Nicole laughed, shaking her head at the brunette, a smile plastered on her face.

“I wasn’t sure when you’d be home, so I figured I’d wait,” Waverly told her.

“Are you cold? Let’s get you inside,” Nicole said as she wrapped her jacket around Waverly and hustled her through the door. She wasn’t sure how long Waverly had really been sitting out in the cold waiting for her. The pair made their way up the stairs and into Nicole’s apartment.

“Why didn’t you tell me you were coming? What are you doing here?” Nicole asked again, shutting the door behind her and Waverly as they entered the apartment. 

“When you left I had a little more time to think,” Waverly said, making her way further into Nicole’s apartment, plopping down on the couch. Nicole laughed lightly as she followed Waverly further into her apartment.  “I thought about everything going on in my life now and I thought about the past. When you were home, I feel like we became so caught up in the past, we weren’t sure what we wanted. But when I was able to, I started to think about the future.”

Waverly paused for a moment and looked back at Nicole, who was listening intently to every word coming out of her mouth. Nicole took the pause to start to say something, but Waverly quickly cut her off, attempting to get all of her thoughts out before she forgot the speech she had been planning the entire way to New York.

“Nicole, I don’t care if I don’t have everything planned out perfectly. Things happen, things change, and I’m ready to take that as they come. But what I’m not ready for is a future without you,” Waverly smiled.

Nicole looked back at Waverly, her eyes grew big as she listened to the woman say exactly what she had hoped to hear for as long as she could remember. Waverly stood up, standing in front of the redhead. She took Nicole’s hands in her own. Taking in a deep breath, she let it out slowly. 

“We weren’t always perfect, Nicole. But we were us and that was perfect to me. And when I thought about life without you it never made any sense. It’s like forgetting to take a breath before you jump into water. And the water is so cold that it hits you like a thousand pins on your skin.”

“Waverly-”

“Wait,” Waverly stopped her.  “It’s...” she looked down at her watch. “12:06am and it’s been almost ten years since the first time we kissed. Our first  _ real  _ kiss. That moment has been forever engraved into my mind and do you know why? Because that’s the moment I knew that I wanted a life with you and that I was going to want you for the rest of my life.”

 

**_January 1st, 2009_ **

_ It was just after midnight and Waverly noticed most of her friends were kissing someone else, some more than others. After a few seconds, Waverly stood up and walked up the stairs of the house. Nicole looked up, concerned and followed her up the stairs a couple minutes later. _

_ “Waverly?” Nicole called out as she walked up the stairs. _

_ When she didn’t hear an answer she saw the light was on in one of the rooms. She knocked lightly on the door before turning the handle. _

_ “Waverly?” Nicole asked again as she pushed the door open, slowly. _

_ “Oh, hey, sorry,” Waverly said, sitting on her bed. _

_ “You okay?” Nicole asked, concerned. _

_ “Yeah, I just needed a minute.” _

_ “Too much making out going on down there?” Nicole laughed. _

_ Waverly laughed. “Yeah, not really my thing.” _

_ “Making out isn’t your thing?” Nicole asked. _

_ “Making out on New Year’s Eve. Most of those people are just doing it because it’s midnight. I thought you were supposed to kiss the person you want to spend the new year with, not just some random person,” Waverly said. _

_ “So are you saying there is someone you wanted to spend the new year with?” Nicole asked, sitting down on the bed next to Waverly. _

_ “Maybe, but I sort of screwed that up,” Waverly told her. _

_ “Why’s that?” Nicole asked. _

_ “I might have avoided her half the night because I thought she was here with a date,” Waverly glanced over at Nicole to gauge her reaction. _

_ Nicole’s eyes widened. “Well, maybe she should have told you earlier in the night that it was just her cousin.” _

_ “Maybe I should have let her tell me instead of walking away every time she tried to talk to me,” Waverly looked down. _

_ “Well, maybe she thinks kissing at midnight is cliche and doesn’t think she needs to just because society writes it that way. Maybe she’d rather kiss someone at a random time after midnight to ring in the new year in private,” Nicole suggested. _

_ Waverly smiled and looked at the clock in her room. “Well, it’s 12:07.” _

_ “And 30 seconds,” Nicole said as she stood up from the bed. _

_ “40 seconds,” Waverly smiled, standing up in front of Nicole. _

_ “And the countdown. 10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4-” Nicole moved closer to Waverly, placing her hand on her cheek. _

_ “3-2-1,” Waverly counted slowly. _

_ “12:08, “Nicole whispered as she leaned in toward Waverly, their lips crashing together. _

_ “Hey babygirl, you okay up here?” Wynonna asked as she swung the door open. _

_ Waverly jumped back from Nicole. _

_ “Oh, I, I’m sorry I didn’t realize you weren’t alone,” Wynonna said, backing up. _

_ “Oh, we, uh-” Waverly stuttered. _

_ “Carry on! Please, you’re fine. I’ll be downstairs!” Wynonna called out as she shut the door and walked away. _

_ “Sorry,” Nicole said. _

_ “Don’t be,” Waverly smiled as she pulled Nicole in for another kiss. _

_ “Maybe we should go back downstairs, you are the hostess,” Nicole laughed. _

_ Waverly groaned. “Can’t we stay up here?” _

_ “I wish, but I’m sure more people are going to be looking for us,” Nicole laughed. _

_ Waverly smiled and nodded. “Yeah, probably,” she said as she grabbed Nicole’s hand and dragged her toward the stairs. _

_ Waverly stopped before the top of the stairs and looked back at Nicole. Nicole smiled at Waverly, squeezing her hand a little tighter. Waverly smiled back at her and Nicole leaned down, kissing her lightly on the lips once more before they let go of each others’ hands and descended down the stairs. _

 

**_Present Day_ **

Nicole stood smiling back at Waverly. She looked up at the clock on the wall. “It’s 12:07,” she smiled. 

“And 30 seconds,” Waverly said as she stepped in closer to Nicole.

“40 seconds,” Nicole smiled.

“And the countdown. 10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4-” Waverly moved closer to Nicole, placing her hand on her cheek.

“3-2-1,” Nicole counted slowly.

“12:08, “Waverly whispered as she leaned in toward Nicole, their lips crashing together. The kiss deepened and Nicole wrapped her arms tightly around Waverly as if she was never going to let her go.

“No Wynonna to interrupt,” Waverly winked, looking behind her as they pulled away from the kiss.

“Thank god,” Nicole laughed, pulling Waverly back into a kiss.

The kiss grew more passionate as the pair moved across the room, lips still connected. Waverly pressed her back up against the wall with Nicole’s body against hers. She moaned into Nicole’s mouth as she felt the redhead’s hands on her body.

“You’re not wasting anytime,” Waverly winked.

“You know how much I’ve thought about this moment since I got home?” Nicole laughed.

“Mmm show me,” Waverly winked.

 

Later that night, Waverly and Nicole were laying together in bed. Waverly laid on her back with her eyes closed. Nicole was laying on her side, facing Waverly, propping herself up on her elbow.

“Are you staring at me?” Waverly smiled, eyes still closed.

“Making sure you’re real,” Nicole laughed.

Waverly laughed. “I really am,” she said as she slowly opened one eye. 

Nicole wrapped her arm around Waverly. “Is this okay?” she asked.

“Mmhmm,” Waverly smiled.

“I just don’t want to do anything you’re not okay with,” Nicole said, softly.  

Waverly opened her eyes and turned her head toward Nicole. “You just did a lot of things that I was okay with,” she laughed.

Nicole laughed, breaking eye contact with Waverly after a moment. Her cheeks were starting to slightly blush.

“Am I making you nervous?” Waverly asked.

“It’s been a while since we’ve done this. Well, I mean, you know what I mean,” Nicole stuttered.

“I know, it’s okay Nicole,” Waverly said as she slid closer to the redhead. “This is perfect, she smiled. 

“Sorry I’m keeping you up,  I’m sure you’re exhausted,” Nicole said, apologetically. 

“It’s okay,” Waverly said, closed her eyes again. 

Nicole kissed her gently on the forehead. “Goodnight, Waves.”

 

The next morning Nicole rolled over to an empty bed. Her eyes shot open quickly and she sat up in bed. She climbed out of bed and glanced around her apartment. 

“Man, if that was a dream, my mind is fucked up,” she groaned, rubbing her face with her hand.

“Are you talking to yourself?” Waverly asked as she came out of the bathroom. 

Nicole let out a sigh of relief. “I thought I dreamed you up,” she laughed slightly. 

Waverly laughed, “I told you I was real, Nicole. Now can we lay back down? It’s so early in my head,” she laughed. 

Nicole laughed and led Waverly back into the bedroom. The pair laid back in the bed together. Nicole laid on her back and Waverly curled up next to her. Nicole stretched her arms up above her head. Her shirt lifted, revealing part of her midriff. 

“Keep doing that and I won’t be able to go back to sleep,” Waverly winked. 

“What?” Nicole asked, laughing. 

“Showing skin,” Waverly whined. 

Nicole laughed. “Oh, is that too much for you?”

Waverly moved her hand to Nicole’s stomach, gently running her fingers over her bare skin. She began to slid her hand to the waistband of the boxers she was wearing, letting them linger for a minute. Nicole let a sharp breath. 

“Oh, is that too much for you?” Waverly teased.


	14. Chapter 14

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the delay on the update! I’ve been traveling a little and working on my new story but I’m glad you’ve all been enjoying this story! I’ve really enjoyed writing it!

“Are you ever going to get up? Nicole whined, slightly pushing Waverly, later that morning.

“Jet lag,” Waverly laughed, rolling away from Nicole, pulling the blanket over her head.

“Waves, you’re in New York City!” Nicole told her. 

“It’s New Year’s Day, it’s recovery day. Even New York takes a day off, right?” Waverly laughed, pulling the blanket back down away from her face.

“This is the city that never sleeps, Earp,” Nicole winked. “You came all the way to New York to stay in bed?”

“Is that really a problem for you?” Waverly winked, rolling back toward Nicole. “You never used to mind being in bed with me all day.”

“Mm you’re killing me,” Nicole sighed.

“Okay, fine!” Waverly sighed. “What did you have in mind for today?” she asked, rolling out of bed. 

Nicole smiled at Waverly, watching her climb out of bed. She was still trying to wrap her head around the fact that Waverly was really there. Waverly turned back to see Nicole laying on the bed, smiling up at her. 

“What are you smiling at?” Waverly asked.

“You,” she smiled.

Waverly returned to the side of the bed, kissing Nicole softly on the lips. “I need a serious shower,” she sighed, making her way into the bathroom.   
  


Nicole had texted Robin while Waverly was in the shower to see if he wanted to meet up for lunch that day. She was feeling better about the possibility of finally letting her friends into her life a little more. The pair arrived at the restaurant for lunch to see Robin already sitting at the table, waiting for them.

“He’s always early,” Nicole whispered to Waverly, laughing. 

“Or are you always late?” Waverly laughed, playfully nudging Nicole in the side.

“Now you sound like him!” Nicole groaned.

“Hey, Nicole! Happy New Year!” Robin said, standing up to hug his friend as the women approached the table.  

“Thanks, Robin!” Nicole said. “How was the rest of last night?”

“Meh, not very exciting. Who’s your friend?” he asked, looking past Nicole at Waverly.  

“Oh, Robin, this is Waverly. Waves, this is Robin, my coworker,” Nicole introduced Waverly to Robin.

“Social media girl!” Robin laughed, winking at Nicole.

“Wait, what?” Waverly asked. 

Nicole gave him a warning look.

“You know, Nicole, the girl who’s social media sites you were looking at when I-”  

“Robin-” Nicole cut him off. 

“Oh yeah? Tell me more,” Waverly winked as she sat down at the table. 

“Yeah, no,” Nicole said, sitting down next to Waverly. “Waverly is my..”

“Girlfriend,” Waverly smiled. 

Robins eyes widened. “Apparently a lot has happened since..last night,” he laughed.

“I’ll explain later,” Nicole told him. 

“I don’t get to be here for that explanation?” Waverly asked, teasing Nicole.

“No,” Nicole smiled politely at Waverly. “So, Robin, I didn’t miss much last night? What happened with that guy you were talking to?”

“He was actually really nice,” Robin said. “Like too nice.”

“What does that mean?” Nicole laughed.

“I don’t know! I’m destined to be forever single,” he sighed.

“Maybe he should meet Jeremy,” Waverly laughed. 

“I could see that,” Nicole laughed.

“Wait, who’s Jeremy? Are you hiding eligible bachelors?” Robin asked.

“He’s my friend from home,” Waverly explained. 

“We went to high school together,” Nicole said. 

“So when are you taking me home with you?” Robin laughed.    
  


After lunch with Robin, Waverly and Nicole took the rest of the afternoon sightseeing in the city. Waverly was mostly interested in seeing anything with ‘museum’ in the title. Nicole spent most of her time observing her girlfriend in the city. She knew it was probably not somewhere Waverly would want to live forever, but she was enjoying the time they were spending there at the moment.

“So you never told Robin about me?” Waverly asked, as they entered Nicole’s apartment that night. “You guys are good friends right?” 

“Yeah, but we don’t talk about things like that,” Nicole hesitated.  

“He sure seems to tell you about his life,” Waverly laughed. 

“Waves, I never really talked about anything with anyone here,” Nicole admitted. “People here only know as much as I let them, which isn’t really a lot.”

“Why not?” Waverly asked.

“I just wasn’t ever ready for that. I could be whoever I wanted here, it wasn’t like Purgatory where everyone knew my business. I didn’t have to be the new kid, or the girl with the drunk dad, you know?”

“I just want you to be Nicole,” Waverly said, taking Nicole’s hand in hers.  

“And I am,” she smiled. “Robin is one of my closest friends I’ve always wanted to tell him about you but it was hard for me to talk about,” she admitted. “It’s just always been easier for me to pretend things don’t exist.”

“I’m sorry, Nicole,” Waverly said, apologetically.  

“Don’t be, I’m happy you’re here right now,” Nicole smiled, pulling Waverly in for a kiss. “Did you have fun today?”

“Yeah! I’ll admit it, I missed the city,” Waverly winked. 

“Just the city?” Nicole smiled, as she began to lay kisses down Waverly’s neck, to her collarbone. 

“Maybe I missed you more,” Waverly breathed. “So, I have a question,” she said, pulling slightly away from Nicole.

“Yeah?” Nicole asked.

“Do you still have the ring?” Waverly asked, quietly. 

“I do,” Nicole told her. “But that was a different time, Waves,” she explained. 

“I know, I was just curious-” Waverly trailed off.

“Babe, listen,” Nicole started. “It’s not that I don’t want to marry you. But that was a ring I bought years ago and I don’t feel right giving it to you now, if that makes sense.”

“It does, I just wanted to see it,” Waverly laughed.

“Yeah, no,” Nicole laughed. 

Waverly put her bottom lip out and pouted toward Nicole. 

“Not going to work,” Nicole laughed. 

“Fine!” Waverly playfully pouted.

“When we get to that point, I’m sure you’ll be happy with it,” Nicole winked.

“When we get to that point?” Waverly smiled. 

“Whoa, girl, slow down!” Nicole laughed, putting her hands up in front of her. “We just started dating and you already want to wife me up?” she winked.

Waverly laughed, wrapping her arms around Nicole’s neck. She jumped up, wrapping her legs around Nicole’s torso as Nicole wrapped her arms around her body, holding her tightly against her. 

“I love you, Nicole Haught,” Waverly whispered as she leaned down to kiss the redhead. “Now take me to bed,” she winked.

Nicole laughed and carried Waverly out of the living room and into her bedroom, laying her gently on the bed.     
  
  


“So you going to explain who this chick is because I know you didn’t just meet her,” Robin said as he turned the corner into Nicole’s cubicle the next day at work. 

Nicole laughed and rolled her eyes at her friend. “First, thanks for coming around the wall this time and not over the top. Second, she’s my high school sweetheart.” 

“Ooh,” Robin said, pulling a chair up next to the redhead and sitting backwards in it.

“Yeah, yeah,” Nicole rolled her eyes. 

“Why have you never mentioned her before?” Robin asked.

“It’s complicated,” Nicole laughed.  

“We got time,” Robin laughed.    
  


**_March 2014_ **

_ Nicole was standing on one side of the gallery room, observing the room full of people there to see her photographs. She took a deep breath out and let it out slowly. She pulled her phone out of her pocket briefly, scrolling through her contacts and clicking on Waverly’s name. She opened up a text message, beginning to type before quickly deleting it and putting her phone back in her pocket. _

_ “You did it, Haught!” a male voice came from next to her.  _

_ Nicole jumped slightly and turned to see her friend Robin standing next to her.  _

_ “You’re always sneaking up on me,” she laughed. “Thanks for coming, Robin, this is all really crazy.” _

_ “Take it in, Nicole, I’m sure this won’t be the last time your photos are displayed!”  _

_ “I’m not sure if I’ll ever get over this time,” Nicole laughed.  _

_ “These are all really great, Nicole,” Shae said as she approached the pair in the gallery.  _

_ “Thanks, Shae,” Nicole smiled at the dark haired woman. _

_ “Of course,” Shae smiled, placing her hand on Nicole’s arm, briefly.  _

_ They fell into simple conversation, Nicole’s nerves began to calm down a bit. Nicole looked up from her conversation with her friends and glanced toward the front of the building where she saw someone standing outside the door, peering in through the window. Nicole squinted her eyes to see who it was, noticing it was someone she recognized. _

_ “Hey, guys, excuse me for a minute?” Nicole asked as she immediately started to walk toward the door.  _

_ When she reached the door, she glanced outside of the building and did not see anyone standing outside anymore. Nicole turned to the side and saw the back of a woman, walking quickly down the street.  _

_ “Waverly?” Nicole’s called out to the woman.  _

_ Waverly stopped in her tracks and turned around slowly. _

_ “Waves? What are you doing here?” Nicole asked, confused. _

_ “I heard you had a gallery opening,” Waverly said softly. “I’m sorry, I shouldn’t be here,” she said, shaking her head. _

_ Nicole approached the brunette and put her hand out for her to take it. Waverly slid her hand into her pocket and stared back at Nicole.  _

_ “I-” Waverly started. “I just, I don’t know-” she stuttered. _

_ “Waverly,” Nicole said softly, her eyes filled with desperation. “Do you want to come into the gallery?” _

_ “I don’t know what I’m doing here, Nicole. I really shouldn’t be here. I’m sorry,” Waverly said, turning away from Nicole. _

_ “Waves, please,” Nicole breathed out, slightly reaching out for the brunette who continued to walk further away from her. _

_ Nicole watched Waverly walk away until her shadowed figure faded away into the night. She took a deep breath in and let it out slowly as she turned to return back to the gallery.  _

_ “Hey, you okay?” Robin asked. _

_ “Uh, yeah,” Nicole said, looking toward the door.  _

_ “What was that about?” Shae asked.  _

_ “Uh, nothing,” Nicole stated. “Needed some fresh air. _   
  


**_Present Day_ **

“Nicole, I missed seeing you around here,” Shae winked, entering the cubicle. 

“Hey Shae, how was Africa? I didn’t have a chance to ask you the other night,” Nicole said, ignoring the woman’s comment.

“Probably not as good as it would have been if you went,” Shae winked. 

“Well if I went you wouldn’t have,” Nicole laughed 

“True,” Robin laughed. 

“So what are you doing later?” Shae asked. “Maybe we can, you know, catch up a little? I’ve missed you,” Shae placed her hands on Nicole’s shoulders. 

“Umm, probably her girlfriend,” Robin winked 

“Girlfriend?” Shae asked, moving her hands back to her sides. 

Nicole shot him a look. 

“Sorry,” Robin said looking at the floor. 

“Well, I guess things have changed since I’ve seen you last,” Shae stated. “What happened to not into relationships?” 

“It’s a little complicated,” Nicole explained. 

“So how long is she here for?” Robin asked. 

“Until the end of the week,” Nicole said. 

“She’s from out of town?” Shae asked. 

Nicole nodded. “From home.” 

“Then what?” Robin asked. 

“What do you mean?” Nicole asked. 

“What’s going to happen?” he asked.  

“I didn’t really think about it,” Nicole said, softly, looking down at her desk.    
  
  


“Hey beautiful,” Nicole said as she entered her apartment, seeing Waverly sitting on the couch in the living room. 

“You’re home!” Waverly smiled as she stood up, greeting Nicole with a kiss. 

“Man, I could get used to this,” Nicole winked. 

Waverly wrapped her arms around Nicole’s neck, running her fingers through her hair on the back of her head. “How was your day?” 

“Long,” Nicole sighed. “I missed you,” she leaned down to kiss Waverly. 

“So are you too tired to go out to dinner?” Waverly asked. 

“I’m never too tired for food,” Nicole smiled. 

“Okay good because I made us reservations,” Waverly smiled. 

“Man, I could  _ really  _ get used to this,” Nicole winked.    
  


“So I was wondering if you want to come to work with me tomorrow?” Nicole asked as she took a bite of her food at the restaurant. 

“You trying to show me off?” Waverly smiled. 

“Maybe,” Nicole winked. “But really, I want you to see where I work.” 

“Sure, babe,” Waverly smiled. “I’d love to.”

“So you leave next weekend right?” Nicole asked, suddenly. 

“Yeah, school starts Monday,” she groaned.

“I’m going to miss you,” Nicole said, softly. 

“Hey,” Waverly placed a hand on Nicole’s hand. “We don’t have to do this now.”

“I know,” Nicole said, looking down at the table.

“What’s wrong?” Waverly asked, concerned. 

“Robin asked me today what was next and it got me thinking. We jumped back into this full force and never discussed or thought among what’s next,” Nicole explained.

“Well, I know that I want to be with you, Nicole,” Waverly told her. 

“And that’s enough?” Nicole asked, looking up at Waverly.  

“That’s all I have right now,” Waverly said. 

Nicole nodded at Waverly, knowing they weren’t going to have all the answers right away.

 

“Hey, Waverly! Welcome to where the magic happens!” Robin said, cheerfully as Waverly entered Nicole’s cubicle the next day. 

“Well, the magic happens more out in the field,” Nicole laughed. “And also, you know that you have your own cubicle, right?”

“I like yours better,” Robin laughed. 

“Waves, this is my other coworker, Shae,” Nicole said.

Waverly stuck her hand out to shake Shae’s. 

“So you are real,” Shae laughed. 

Waverly gave Nicole a confused looked. 

“I was beginning to think Nicole was just really into being alone,” she laughed. 

Waverly laughed and winked at Nicole. 

“It takes a special person to break through the walls,” Nicole smiled at Waverly. 

Shae shot Nicole a slightly frustrated look. “Waverly, it’s nice to meet you,” she smiled as she shook Waverly’s hand. 

Waverly smiled politely back at the taller woman as she shook her hand. She stared back at the woman, trying to figure out why there was something familiar about her voice. 


	15. Chapter 15

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey guys! I just wanted to thank everyone again for reading! I hope this chapter does the end of the story justice, I was nervous about how to end this story because I spent so much time with it. I hope you all like it!
> 
> I'm continuing to write "Fire In The Cold" and updating that soon again as well. I also have a few other fic ideas set for the future so I hope you keep reading! Thanks again!

Later that night, Waverly and Nicole entered Nicole’s apartment hand-in-hand. Nicole turned to shut the door as Waverly removed her coat and turned back toward the redhead. Nicole could tell she had something on her mind, but she wasn’t quite sure what it was. ****  
** **

“Is everything okay?” Nicole asked, taking the brunette’s coat from her hands to hang it on the hook.  ****  
** **

“Was that Shae on the phone that night?” Waverly finally asked.  ****  
** **

“What night?” Nicole asked. She stopped in her tracks when she realized that the question was dumb, she knew which night. Nicole slowly turned around, afraid to make eye contact with the other woman in fear that she would be upset. ****  
** **

“After we broke up.” Waverly’s words pierced through Nicole’s ears. 

****

**_December 2013_ **

_ It had been 2 days since Waverly broke up with Nicole and the redhead was still all she could think about.  _ ****  
** **

_ “Maybe I’ll call her and we can talk about it again,” Waverly said to herself.  _ ****  
** **

_ She took a deep breath and pressed ‘call’ under Nicole’s phone number. She placed the phone up to her ear and waited. _ ****  
** **

_ “Hello?” An unrecognizable, female voice answered.  _ ****  
** **

_ “Um, I’m looking for Nicole,” Waverly said, confused. _ ****  
** **

_ “Oh shit, I must have answered her phone thinking it was mine!” the woman laughed. _ ****  
** **

_ “Well, can you give her the phone?” Waverly asked, annoyed. _ ****  
** **

_ “She’s in the bathroom, let me go get her,” she informed her. “Hey, I accidentally answered your phone,” the woman said to Nicole, her voice was further away from the phone and a little muffled. _ ****  
** **

_ Waverly could hear Nicole laugh. “Hello?” Nicole’s voice came through the phone. .  _ ****  
** **

_ “Really cute, Nicole,” Waverly spat.  _ ****  
** **

_ “What? Waves?”.  _ ****  
** **

_ “We broke up two days ago.” _ ****  
** **

_ “Okay?” Nicole asked. “Are you calling to remind me of that?”  _ ****  
** **

_ “Who’s answering your phone?” Waverly asked.  _ ****  
** **

_ “Sorry, she didn’t realize it was mine. Honest mistake,” Nicole told her.  _ ****  
** **

_ “Yeah, I guess that happens when you’re busy banging her right?” Waverly asked, growing more annoyed.  _ ****  
** **

_ “Way to make assumptions,” Nicole tried to defend herself.  _ ****  
** **

_ “Tell me that’s not what it is then,” Waverly said.  _ ****  
** **

_ “Waverly, can we not do this?” Nicole asked. _ ****  
** **

_ “Tell me it’s not true.”  _ ****  
** **

_ “You know the answer to that already,” Nicole sighed.  _ ****  
** **

_ “I see how much I meant to you!” _ ****  
** **

_ “What? No! You don’t get to do that! You broke up with me! You don’t get a say anymore!” Nicole yelled.  _ ****  
** **

_ “But I respect you more than getting under someone the day after we broke up!” _ ****  
** **

_ “It’s been 2 days.”  _ ****  
** **

_ “Not the point.”  _ ****  
** **

_ “Listen, Waverly, you can be mad, but just remember, this was your decision,” Nicole told her.  _ ****  
** **

_ “Fuck you, Nicole! Enjoy your random hookup!” _ ****  
** **

_ Waverly hung up the phone and dropped to the floor. Her phone fell from her hand and landed on the floor with a bang. Waverly pulled her knees tight to her chest and dropped her head down into her hands, beginning to sob. _ ****  
** **

_ The door to the dorm room swung open and Rosita entered the room.   _ ****  
** **

_ “Waves? What’s going on?” She asked, concerned.  _ ****  
** **

_ “I just tried calling Nicole and another girl answered her phone,” Waverly told her.  _

****

**_Present Day_ **

“Umm, it was,” Nicole said softly, rubbing the back of her neck. She wasn’t quite making eye contact with Waverly at the moment.  ****  
** **

Waverly looked down and away from Nicole. Nicole sighed, knowing that the brunette was upset. This was something she didn’t know she would ever have to explain to her, but things were different now and she thought that Waverly deserved an explanation.  ****  
** **

“Waves-” Nicole started, placing her hand on Waverly’s arm. ****  
** **

“No, it’s fine, Nicole,” Waverly said, pulling her arm away. “It was a long time ago. I shouldn’t be mad about it.” She turned to walk toward the couch in the living room, plopping down on the soft surface with a sigh. ****  
** **

“Waverly, I know it was a long time ago, but I’m sorry about that night, really. I was pissed off and I was out with some coworkers and it just sort of happened,” Nicole explained. “I thought for some reason sleeping with someone else would help me get over you.”

****

**_December 2013_ **

_ “Wow, Nicole Haught, surprised to see you out tonight!” Shae said, walking up next to the redhead and sitting down at the bar next to her. _ ****  
** **

_ “Robin finally convinced me,” she laughed, gesturing toward her friend. _ ****  
** **

_ “I thought it was about time she loosened up,” he winked.  _ ****  
** **

_ “Hmm,” Shae started. “I couldn’t agree more myself,’ she said as she placed her hand on Nicole’s leg. _ ****  
** **

_ Nicole looked down at Shae’s hand on her leg and swallowed hard. She smiled and looked back up at the other woman. Reaching for her drink, she took a large gulp. _ ****  
** **

 

**_Present Day_ **

“I mean, I get it, she’s gorgeous,” Waverly told her, throwing her hands up in the air. ****  
** **

“She’s not you,”  Nicole said, softly, turned to make eye contact with the brunette again. ****  
** **

“So, whatever, you had a one night stand,” Waverly said. ****  
** **

Nicole didn’t speak. She slowly made her way to the couch and sat down next to the brunette. She sat quietly for a moment before turning to make eye contact with her again, slightly cringing.  ****  
** **

“Not a one night stand?” Waverly asked. ****  
** **

“Not exactly,” Nicole admitted. ****  
** **

“Did you date her?” Waverly asked. ****  
** **

“Not exactly.” ****  
** **

“Okay, Nicole, then what are you trying to tell me?” Waverly asked. She was trying not to become frustrated with her girlfriend. She knew that she couldn’t blame her for trying to move on with someone new.  ****  
** **

“Waverly, listen, we weren’t together. I’m not going to sit here and lie to you though and say I never had other hookups with anyone else,” Nicole admitted. ****  
** **

“So do you have feelings for her?” Waverly asked.  ****  
** **

Nicole started to laugh. ****  
** **

“Why is that funny?” Waverly grew slightly annoyed.  ****  
** **

“Baby,” Nicole started. She moved from sitting on the couch and knelt down on the ground in front of her girlfriend, placing her hands on Waverly’s thighs. “I can assure you, I absolutely never had feelings for anyone other than you.”  ****  
** **

“When’s the last time you slept with her then?” Waverly asked, continuing to question the redhead.

“Waves, do we have to do this?” Nicole groaned, dropping her head into the brunette’s lap.  ****  
** **

“She’s your coworker though, Nicole! Not some random girl! You see her all the time!” Waverly argued. ****  
** **

“Wait. You want to discuss feelings for coworkers?” Nicole asked, lifting her head up to make eye contact again.  ****  
** **

“Don’t-” Waverly warned.  ****  
** **

“Baby,” Nicole sighed. “I need you to trust me when I tell you that there’s absolutely nothing going on between Shae and I. She was convenient when I needed it, but you’re the only person in the entire world that I want to be with.” ****  
** **

Waverly didn’t speak at first. She stared back at Nicole, forcing a glare onto her face. She wasn’t actually mad at Nicole, but she wasn’t going to rush to be best friends with the woman that her girlfriend had been sleeping with either. “Fine,” Waverly huffed.  ****  
** **

Nicole smiled back at her girlfriend, who still had an annoyed look on her face. Nicole stuck her lip out to Waverly and made her laugh, breaking her angry look.  ****  
** **

“Not fair,” Waverly huffed. A smile slowly formed on her lips.  ****  
** **

“Can I make it up to you?” Nicole asked, sliding her palms further up Waverly’s thighs.  ****  
** **

“You might have to try really hard,” Waverly warned.

“Hmm. I could do that,” Nicole smiled. She pushed up from the floor and began to lay soft kisses on Waverly’s neck. Waverly sighed at the feeling of her girlfriend’s lips on her neck.  ****  
** **

Nicole moved up toward Waverly’s ear. “I can try  _ very _ hard,” she whispered, as she lightly biting on her ear, sending shivers down Waverly’s spine. ****  
** **

Waverly moaned at the feeling and felt herself melt into her girlfriend’s arms. Nicole continued laying kisses down her neck and onto her collarbone. Nicole pulled at Waverly’s shirt, removing it over her head before returning to laying soft kisses on Waverly’s now bare skin. Waverly laid back, with Nicole hovering over her, continuing to lay kisses down her body. Nicole reached behind the brunette’s back, unclasping her bra and sliding it off of her body. ****  
** **

Nicole continued to lay kisses down Waverly’s abs as she undid her belt and pants with one hand, pulling them slightly down. Waverly reached down to help her remove her pants. Nicole continued to kiss further down her girlfriend’s body, laying kisses on her inner thighs. Waverly’s breathing began to speed up as she felt Nicole’s lips on her body. Nicole laid a kiss between Waverly’s legs, over her underwear. Waverly let out a sharp breath at the feeling and felt Nicole making her way back up her body, reconnecting her their lips together. ****  
** **

Nicole slid her hand down Waverly’s body, removing the last garment of clothing, before sliding her fingers in between Waverly’s legs, feeling her wetness. Waverly’s hips began to grind into Nicole’s hand as she let out a moan into Nicole’s mouth. ****  
** **

 

The end of the week came faster than either of them had expected. Nicole had really gotten used to the idea of having Waverly in the city with her, knowing that it would not last long. On the morning of the day that Waverly was leaving to go back to Purgatory, Nicole rolled over in bed to feel the other side of the bed empty.  ****  
** **

“Waves?” Nicole called out, looking around the room. She suddenly missed the feeling of having Waverly’s body next to her when she woke up in the morning. ****  
** **

“Sorry,” Waverly said. “Did I wake you?” She was standing on the other side of the room, hovering over her suitcase.  ****  
** **

“No,” Nicole yawned. “What are you doing?” ****  
** **

“Packing,” Waverly said, softly. ****  
** **

“You don’t leave until tonight,” Nicole laughed. ****  
** **

“You know I’m a planner,” Waverly smiled. “I already feel like I’m going to forget something.” ****  
** **

“Do you want to ‘accidentally’ leave things behind so you’ll come back soon?” Nicole joked, using air quotes around the word ‘accidentally.’  ****  
** **

“You know I’ll be back,” Waverly smiled, climbing back into bed with her girlfriend. “You’re worth coming back for.” She wrapped her arm around Nicole’s torso and gently kissed her cheek. ****  
** **

Nicole wrapped her arms tightly around Waverly’s waist, pulling her closed to her body. “What if I just don’t let you go?” she laughed. ****  
** **

“You’re cute,” Waverly smiled. “What are my students going to do without me?” ****  
** **

“What am I going to do without you?” Nicole asked, trying to hide the sadness in her voice.  ****  
** **

“So many good things,” Waverly smiled, kissing her girlfriend on the cheek. ****  
** **

Nicole and Waverly walked slowly into the airport later that day, hand in hand. Nicole carried Waverly’s backpack on her bag, rolling her suitcase behind her.  ****  
** **

“I can take my bags,” Waverly told her. ****  
** **

“I got it,” Nicole insisted.  ****  
** **

“Okay,” Waverly laughed.  ****  
** **

As the pair approached security, they stopped and turned to each other. “Man, this is worse than the last time,” Waverly laughed. ****  
** **

“But it won’t be the last time we see each other,” Nicole smiled. “I’ll be back to visit soon, I promise.” ****  
** **

“I know,” Waverly said softly, looking down at the ground. ****  
** **

“Hey,” Nicole said, lifting Waverly’s chin with her finger. “We got this, okay?” ****  
** **

Waverly nodded, tears in her eyes. ****  
** **

“I love you, Waverly Earp,” Nicole told her. “Nothing has ever changed that and nothing ever will.” ****  
** **

“I love you,” Waverly smiled and wrapped her arms around Nicole.  ****  
** **

Nicole reciprocated the hug and kissed Waverly softly on the top of her head. Waverly pulled slightly away and leaned up to kiss Nicole’s lips. They pulled away and Waverly took a deep breath in, letting it out slowly. ****  
** **

“Count with me,” Nicole whispered. ****  
** **

“1, 2, 3,” Waverly smiled. ****  
** **

“We’ll jump together,” Nicole winked.

****

Two weeks had gone by and Waverly and Nicole were doing the best they could to continue their lives without each other present. Nicole continued to tell Waverly that she would be visiting soon, but the pair had not been able to make a set plan yet. Waverly began to grow frustrated, but knew that it would be something they would have to deal with until they figured out the next steps for their future. On her way home from work that day, Waverly picked up the phone and dialed Nicole’s number.  ****  
** **

“Hello?” Nicole answered as she put the phone to her ear. ****  
** **

“Hey, there, beautiful,” Waverly smiled. “How’s your day going I feel like I haven’t had a chance to talk to you all day,” she whined. ****  
** **

“Boring,” Nicole groaned. “I’m sorry, baby, I miss you.” ****  
** **

“I miss you too, Nicole,” Waverly told her. “Are you still going to visit soon?” She asked the question knowing that her girlfriend probably didn’t have an answer yet. Her work schedule had been crazy since she had taken so much time off when she was back home. ****  
** **

“Working on it!” Nicole said. “There was a few things I needed to get sorted out with work first.” ****  
** **

“What do you mean?” Waverly asked. “Work stuff?” ****  
** **

“Yeah, I’m trying to get caught up before I can take some more time off,” Nicole sighed.  ****  
** **

I know,” Waverly said, softly. “Hey, I drove by your mom’s house earlier, I didn’t see the ‘For Sale’ sign anymore. You didn’t tell me you sold it,” Waverly said.  ****  
** **

“Oh, yeah, I must have forgotten,” Nicole said, unconvincingly. “Hey, where are you right now?” ****  
** **

“What are you up to?” Waverly asked, skeptically. She knew Nicole well enough to know when she was hiding something.  ****  
** **

“Why do you always think I’m up to something?” Nicole laughed.  ****  
** **

“Because I know you,” Waverly laughed. “I’m just pulling into the homestead now.” ****  
** **

“Okay, go up to your room, I told Wynonna to leave a surprise for you up there,” Nicole said. ****  
** **

“Seriously, Haught, what are you up to?” Waverly asked. She liked surprises, but she was skeptical knowing that her sister was involved in something that Nicole was planning.  ****  
** **

“Baby, just trust me,” Nicole told her. ****  
** **

“Fine! But I’m staying on the phone with you because if something pops out at me, you’re getting an earful!” Waverly warned. “You never know if Wynonna actually did what you told her to do.” ****  
** **

“Deal,” Nicole laughed.  ****  
** **

Waverly parked her jeep and made her way into the front door. She looked around the outside of the house to be sure that nothing was going to jump out at her. She slowly opened the door and stuck her head inside before opening the door all the way and making her way inside.  ****  
** **

“Wynonna! I’m home!” Waverly called out as she walked  into the house and turned toward the stairs. She didn’t hear anything back from her sister, but she carefully walked up the stairs, placing her hand on the door handle of her bedroom. ****  
** **

“Okay, I’m about to go in the room, I swear this better not be a joke, Nicole!” Waverly warned into the phone. ****  
** **

“We’ll see,” Nicole said, teasingly. Waverly sighed and shook her head as if Nicole could see her through the phone. She  opened the door of her room to see balloons and flowers placed on the dresser on one side of the room.  ****  
** **

“What’s all this?” Waverly asked into the phone as she made her way further into the room. She quickly noticed candles lit on the nightstand and looked even more confused than before.  ****  
** **

“Surprise,” Nicole said. Waverly stopped in her tracks when she heard her girlfriend’s voice, not through the phone, but in person. She turned to see Nicole sitting on the bed on the other side of the room. Waverly froze again when she saw the redhead sitting on her bed. She looked briefly down at her phone, then back up at Nicole. Nicole smiled back at her and hung up the phone.  ****  
** **

“Nicole?” Waverly asked, shocked that she was really there. She still hadn’t moved from where she stood in the middle of the room. ****  
** **

“Surprised?” Nicole asked, standing up from the bed and making her way over to Waverly.  ****  
** **

Waverly wrapped her arms tightly around Nicole’s core, burying her head into Nicole’s chest. Nicole smiled and wrapped her arms around the brunette. “You’re here?” Waverly asked through her tears, face still buried.  ****  
** **

“I am,” Nicole smiled. She kissed Waverly on the top of her head.  ****  
** **

“But how?” Waverly asked. She lifted her head to look up at Nicole, making eye contact with her.  ****  
** **

“I put in for a job transfer,” Nicole told her as she reached up to wipe the tears from Waverly’s face.  ****  
** **

“Wait, what?” Waverly asked, pulling a little further away from Nicole’s body to see her better. “But Nicole, you have a good job in the city.” ****  
** **

“Waverly, there are good jobs everywhere,” Nicole told her. “I can take photos anywhere. But you, you’re not everywhere, you’re here.” ****  
** **

“You can’t give it all up for me,” Waverly told her.  ****  
** **

“I’m not giving anything up, Waves,” Nicole assured her. “I took the house off the market and decided to move back.” ****  
** **

“But-” ****  
** **

“This is my choice, Waverly. This is something I’ve been thinking about for a while now, with or without you,” Nicole explained. “It helps that it’s with you though,” she smiled at the brunette.  ****  
** **

“So you’re really here?” Waverly asked again, in shock. She moved her hands to Nicole’s face, still trying to prove to herself that her girlfriend was really there.  ****  
** **

“I am,” Nicole smiled. ****  
** **

“And you’re staying?” Waverly asked again. ****  
** **

“I am.” ****  
** **

Waverly smiled up at Nicole, pulling her into a kiss. The kiss grew deeper and Waverly led the pair over to the bed. “Baby, wait,” Nicole stopped her suddenly. Waverly moved back a little, giving the redhead a little more space. ****  
** **

“Sorry,” Waverly said, blushing a little. “I just missed you.” ****  
** **

“Oh, trust me,” Nicole sighed, kissing Waverly quickly on the lips. “That’s not it.” Waverly smiled and they kissed a few more times. “There’s just one more thing,” the redhead said. She reached into her pocket and Waverly’s eyes immediately darted toward her hand. Her eyes widened when she saw Nicole pull a small box out of her pocket. The redhead smiled back at Waverly and dropped down on one knee. Tears immediately formed in Waverly’s eyes.  ****  
** **

“I know this has been a little crazy lately,” Nicole began. “And this might seem crazy right now. But I think we’ve spent enough time away from each other and I’m not sure about you, but I’m not willing to spend anymore time away from you. You, Waverly Earp, are the best part of me and you always have been. Your love got me through some of the most difficult moments in my life and I’m forever grateful for that and for you. I planned this speech a lot differently years ago, but I think now, more than ever, I’m more confident in this decision. So before I continue to ramble,” she slowly opened the box to reveal a shiny engagement ring. Tears continued to fall from Waverly’s eyes as she smiled big at the redhead. She felt her heart race as Nicole continued to speak. “Waverly Earp, will you marry me?” Waverly immediately dropped to Nicole’s level, wrapping her arms tightly around the redhead’s neck, laying kisses all over her face.  ****  
** **

“So is that a yes?” Nicole asked in between kisses.  ****  
** **

Waverly laughed. “That’s an absolutely.” She stood up, taking Nicole by the hand, leading her back onto her feet. Nicole took the ring from the box and slowly slid it on to Waverly’s finger. The brunette watched in awe as the ring fit perfectly on her finger. “Baby,” she said, in almost a whisper. “I love it.” ****  
** **

“I love you, Waverly,” Nicole smiled.  ****  
** **

Waverly smiled back at Nicole. “So you’re really here?”  ****  
** **

Nicole nodded. ****  
** **

“And you’re staying?” ****  
** **

Nicole nodded. ****  
** **

“And we’re engaged?” ****  
** **

Nicole nodded.  ****  
** **

“Just checking,” Waverly laughed. The grin on her face grew bigger as if that were even possible. She wrapped her arms around Nicole’s torso and connected her lips with the redhead. She buried her head briefly into Nicole’s chest, placing her head flat against her body, listening to her heartbeat. Nicole wrapped her arms tighter around Waverly, holding her as close to her body as she possibly could. The pair stood in silence for a moment, remaining in that position. Waverly thought about everything they had been through and how much closer she feels to Nicole now. She moved her head slightly to glance down at the shiny new jewelry she was now sporting on her left ring finger. She thought about the promise of the future that she has with the redhead and smiled to herself. There were several moments in her relationship with Nicole over the years that she thought were perfect, but now, at this moment, she was having trouble coming up with a moment that was more perfect that this one. 


End file.
